Berrain v. Katzen8/25/1993
scope, and were deliberately designed so to be. One of their fundamental and principal objectives is to require the disclosure of facts by a party litigant to all of his adversaries, and thereby to eliminate, as far as possible, the necessity of any party to litigation going to trial in a confused or muddled state of mind, concerning the facts that gave rise to the litigation. If all of the parties have knowledge of all of the relevant, pertinent and non-privileged facts, or the knowledge of the existence or whereabouts of such facts, the parties should be able properly to prepare their claims and defenses, thereby advancing the sound and expeditious administration of justice. In order to accomplish the above purposes, the discovery rules are to be liberally construed. And the trial judges, who are primarily called upon to administer said rules, are vested with a reasonable, sound discretion in applying them, which discretion will not be disturbed in the absence of a showing of its abuse."
Id. at 13-14, 174 A.2d at 771 (emphasis in original). See also Androutsos v. Fairfax Hospital, 323 Md. 634, 638, 594 A.2d 574, 576 (1991); Public Service Comm'n v. Patuxent Valley Conservation League, 300 Md. 200, 216, 477 A.2d 759, 767 (1984); Kelch v. Mass Transit Administration, 287 Md. 223, 229-30, 411 A.2d 449, 453 (1980); Klein v. Weiss, 284 Md. 36, 55, 395 A.2d 126, 137 (1978); Mason v. Wolfing, 265 Md. 234, 236, 288 A.2d 880, 881 (1972); Williams v. Moran, 248 Md. 279, 291, 236 A.2d 274, 281-82 (1967); Pfeiffer v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 247 Md. 56, 60-61, 230 A.2d 87, 90 (1967); Caton Ridge, Inc. v. Bonnett, 245 Md. 268, 276, 225 A.2d 853, 857 (1967); Miller v. Talbott, 239 Md. 382, 387-88, 211 A.2d 741, 744-45 (1965); Guerriero v. Friendly Finance Corp., 230 Md. 217, 222-23, 186 A.2d 881, 884 (1962).
One method employed in our rules to promote compliance is the sanctions scheme set forth in Rules 2-432 and 2-433. We have had ample opportunities to underscore the enforcement of the sanctions against errant parties. In Mezzanotti, supra, we rejected the claim that a sanction of default judgment violated due process of law, stating:
"The claim is without merit. Rule 422 c [the precursor of Rule 2-432], as does Rule 37 (b) (2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, empowers the court, among other things, to enter a judgment by default against a party who refuses to answer interrogatories. Such authority, when properly exercised, has been held not to violate due process of law. Hammond Packing Co. v. Arkansas, 212 U.S. 322. If a party can refuse to answer and be defaulted, and still present a 'meritorious' defense when the default judgment is extended, the party has suffered nothing by its refusal to answer, and Rule 422 c is meaningless."
227 Md. at 21, 174 A.2d at 775.
In Lynch v. R.E. Tull & Sons, Inc., 251 Md. 260, 247 A.2d 286 (1968), a plaintiff filed a contract action. The defendant counterclaimed and filed interrogatories. The plaintiff failed to answer the interrogatories and the defendant sought sanctions. The trial court found the plaintiff had flagrantly abused th
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