Noreturn Posted March 5, 2020 Report Share Posted March 5, 2020 Does anyone have a sample Motion for Sanctions they'd like to share? Preferably dealing with failure to disclose, supplement an earlier response but any discovery topic will help. My situation: Parties participated in discovery, specifically asked plaintiff to disclose any / all potential witnesses Plaintiff answer " Plaintiff's only witness...custodian of records, discovery is ongoing plaintiff will supplement answer in accordance with the Courts Scheduling Order" --Plaintiff never supplemented-- Court Scheduling order: Parties must exchange and file with the court a list of witnesses they may call to testify. Include witness name, phone number, address and a brief description of expected testimony Due 10 days prior to trial--- Plaintiff JDB = Did not file or serve list--two live witnesses testified both undisclosed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhoCares1000 Posted March 5, 2020 Report Share Posted March 5, 2020 They might not bring in any witnesses because of the electronic business records rule (in every state but California) which allows them to do so. All they need is an affidavit from their own custodian of records and the records are admitted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noreturn Posted March 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2020 The Trial is ongoing, the witnesses have testified already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhoCares1000 Posted March 5, 2020 Report Share Posted March 5, 2020 Then you missed your chance to object to the witness testimony. You needed to do that during the trial when the called the witness in. A motion for sanction will not work and will be denied at this point. You are expected to know the rules of civil procedure as a pro se litigant as any attorney would be expected to know the rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noreturn Posted March 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2020 I did object, loud and clear. I was hoping i could file a motion to strike and or sanctions. Last day of trial is one week from today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noreturn Posted March 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2020 Even if the judge denies a motion to strike / sanctions, is it possible to strengthen a future appeal? I'm pretty sure I will loose my case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noreturn Posted March 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2020 Case Law in my State does not favor business records affidavit from the debt buyer, must be from OC. Even then, the affiant has to be specific about what records were reviewed and that they have knowledge of the process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Seaward Posted March 6, 2020 Report Share Posted March 6, 2020 What did you state as grounds for your objection? What did you state as prejudice? What was the plaintiff's response? What was the court's ruling on your objection? The entire point of disclosing witnesses is to provide the other side with an opportunity to depose the witness before trial. If you had no intention of deposing the witness, the failure to disclose is harmless. They could have disclosed Ronald McDonald and it wouldn't have mattered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noreturn Posted March 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2020 I stated my grounds for objection was that I had asked specifically for witness disclosure in discovery ( plt answer was that discovery is ongoing, they would supplement) Next I complained that plaintiff did not comply with the courts order setting case schedule, and that I only had prepared questions for their custodian who provided an affidavit. It's kind of a blur why testimony was allowed, I seem to remember something like "let's wait and see what the witness has to say" I thought I communicated my objections well ( the part of trial I asserted well) however I did not mention that I would be prejudiced. The judge "logged" exhibits and some testimony, not sure what that means. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Seaward Posted March 6, 2020 Report Share Posted March 6, 2020 Who were the two witnesses? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noreturn Posted March 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2020 4 hours ago, Harry Seaward said: Who were the two witnesses? A random custodian of records and myself. Do I not have any recourse? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Seaward Posted March 6, 2020 Report Share Posted March 6, 2020 What would you have done differently if they had disclosed their witness ahead of time? Edit: at this point, your issue isn't with the plaintiff for failure to disclose. The potential issue is with the court for allowing the witness to testify against your objections. So the remedy is either a motion to reconsider (waste of time), or an appeal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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