Warning

The Fifth Court affirmed a severe sanction in Hizar v. Heflin. An issue was whether this admonition in an order on a motion to compel was a “lesser sanction” as understood byt by the case law about death-penalty sanctions:

“If Defendant fails to produce all responsive documents by Monday, July 12, 2021, Defendant’s pleadings will be struck.”

Aligning with several other appellate districts that have reached similar conclusions, the Court held that this language qualified as an unequivocal warning in the context of a death-penalty sanction. No. 05-21-00936-CV (July 10, 2023).