Opinion ID: 1922039
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: In Limine Ruling Excluding Evidence of Joseph Soley's Debts

Text: [¶ 19] After default on liability was imposed as a sanction for Soley's failure to provide discovery, the court issued another discovery order in March 1999 compelling defendants to provide requested financial information. Notwithstanding what was, at that point, the obvious risk of failing to provide discovery, Soley failed once again to provide any meaningful information. [14] Finding that there had been absolutely no effort on Solely's part to verify or even investigate the figures provided to the tenants, the court concluded that there was no reliable information provided by Soley regarding his financial liabilities and therefore that it would be improper to allow him to testify regarding liabilities at trial. [¶ 20] As with the court's first sanction for discovery violations, we review the order for an abuse of discretion, looking to the same factors and principles as set out above, and we conclude that the court acted well within the range of its discretion in fashioning the sanction for Soley's continued failure to comply with the court's orders regarding production of his financial documents.