Flora v. 1st Judicial District

• Court: Montana Supreme Court
• Decided: April 14, 2020
• Docket: OP 20-0200
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

ORIGINAL 04/14/2020

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA Case Number: OP 20-0200

OP 20-0200 FILED MARC FLORA and GLORIA FLORA APR 1 4 2020 Bowen Greenwood Petitioners, ,7.lerk of Supreme Court Suite of Montana

v. ORDER FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT, HON.JAMES P. REYNOLDS,Presiding,

Respondent.

Petitioners Marc Flora and Gloria Flora seek a writ ofsupervisory control directing the First Judicial District Court, Lewis and Clark County, to reverse its Order on Defendants' motion that granted discovery sanctions against the Floras in its Cause No. DDV-2011-471. In that Order,the District Court granted a motion for sanctions filed by Defendants Katy Wessel and John Mehan, in which the court limited the evidence the Floras could present at trial as a sanction for the Floras' failure to cooperate with discovery. The Floras allege supervisory control is necessary in this case because allowing the matter to move forward under the District Court's ruling would cut off their primary claims and leave them at a significant disadvantage in litigating this matter. Having reviewed the Petition and the challenged Order, this Court deems it appropriate to obtain a summary response. Therefore, in accordance with M. R. App. P. 14(7), IT IS ORDERED that the First Judicial District Court and any or all Defendants in the Cause No. DDV-2011-471, or both, are granted 30 days from the date of this Order to prepare, file, and serve a response(s) to the petition for writ of supervisory control in Cause No. DDV-2011-471. The Clerk is directed to provide immediate notice of this Order to counsel for Petitioner, all counsel ofrecord in the First Judicial District Court,Lewis and Clark County, Cause No. DDV-2011-471, and the Honorable James P. Reynolds, presiding. DATED this day of April, 2020. For the Court,