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Hales v. Oldroyd3/16/2000
al court found that "plaintiff's counsel has established a consistent pattern and practice of not complying with discovery requests and other dilatory behavior." Also, the court noted "that the behavior of plaintiff in failing to comply with discovery requests was willful." Finally, the court found "that plaintiff has engaged in persistent dilatory tactics that have frustrated the judicial process." The findings are sufficiently supported by Hales's consistent failures and delays in meeting her discovery obligations, even without considering her failures regarding Mountain View. Thus, we conclude the court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing Hales's complaint as a discovery sanction.
Finally, Hales argues that dismissing her complaint violates her constitutional rights. We disagree. Hales has had ample opportunity to pursue her claim; all she had to do was respond appropriately to discovery to avoid this end. After repeated motions and court orders, she continued, five years after filing the complaint, to engage in behavior causing delays and frustration of the judicial process. Although parties deserve the opportunity to be heard, "dismissal . . . is appropriate when a party pursues a claim in a manner that abuses that opportunity." Preston & Chambers, P.C. v. Koller, 943 P.2d 260, 263 n.2 (Utah Ct. App. 1997).
CONCLUSION
In sum, the trial court did not err in dismissing Hales's complaint as a discovery sanction. First, we reject Hales's interpretation of Rule 37 and compliance with a court order. The court made the required preliminary findings of willfulness and dilatory behavior to support sanctions under Rule 37. Once the threshold finding is made, the choice of sanction is within the discretion of the trial court. We conclude the trial court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing Hales's complaint based on ample evidence in the record of her multiple delays and failures to respond to discovery requests and court orders. Furthermore, Hales waived any objections to procedural matters or merits of the discovery requests. Finally, we conclude that dismissal did not violate her constitutional rights because she had ample opportunity to present her case had she only chosen to do so, rather than abuse the opportunity by following a course of conduct frustrating the judicial process. Accordingly, we affirm.
Regnal W. Garff, Senior Judge
WE CONCUR:
Russell W. Bench, Judge
James Z. Davis, Judge
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