Road map for death-penalty sanctions

A detailed road map for a sustainable award of death-penalty sanctions appears in Hill v. Spracklen – “In their motion to impose death-penalty sanctions, the Spracklens catalogued Hill’s history of misconduct, including his deliberate and continuing violation of multiple court orders and his abusive and defiant behavior at his deposition. In granting the Spracklens’ request for death-penalty sanctions, the trial court [also] considered . . .  the admission of Hill’s counsel that Hill chose not to appear at the hearing. In addition, in the final judgment, the trial court found Hill’s conduct during trial provided additional support and grounds for striking Hill’s pleadings . . . At trial, Hill introduced documents he should have produced during the course of the case, but failed to do so despite having been repeatedly ordered to do so, and presented what appeared to be inconsistent forms of the contract Janet Spracklen supposedly signed.” No. 05-17-00829-CV (July 12, 2018) (mem. op.)