Nollenberger v. Nollenberger

832 P.2d 757, 122 Idaho 186, 1992 Ida. LEXIS 109, 1992 WL 104962
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedMay 20, 1992
Docket19142
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 832 P.2d 757 (Nollenberger v. Nollenberger) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nollenberger v. Nollenberger, 832 P.2d 757, 122 Idaho 186, 1992 Ida. LEXIS 109, 1992 WL 104962 (Idaho 1992).

Opinion

JOHNSON, Justice.

This is a divorce case. This appeal is from a magistrate judge’s imposition of sanctions pursuant to I.R.C.P. 37(a)(4) and 37(b) based on the failure of the husband to comply with discovery orders. We hold that the magistrate judge did not abuse his discretion by striking the husband’s pleadings, allowing the wife to take default judgment, and awarding costs and attorney fees. We also affirm the award of attorney fees on appeal by the district judge and award costs and attorney fees on this appeal.

I.

THE BACKGROUND AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS.

In September 1986, W.E. Nollenberger (the husband) filed a complaint requesting a divorce from Mary K. Nollenberger (the wife). The complaint asked the magistrate judge to characterize property acquired by the husband before the marriage as separate property.

The wife answered the complaint and counterclaimed for a divorce from the husband. She alleged that the couple had used community funds to pay debts on property acquired by the husband before their marriage and that a bank account existed. The husband replied to the counterclaim and alleged that all disputed property was his separate property in which the community had no interest.

In September, 1986, the wife filed her first request for production of documents (the first request for production). Because of the lack of compliance by the husband, on January 6, 1987, the wife filed a motion for order compelling response to the first request for production. On January 15, *187 1987, the wife submitted interrogatories (the first interrogatories) to the husband and renewed the first request for production.

On January 6, 1987, the wife filed a motion to compel the husband to produce the documents she had requested and to award attorney fees and costs for being required to obtain the court’s aid in the production of the documents.

On January 20,1987, pursuant to a stipulation by the husband, the magistrate judge entered an order requiring the husband, on or before February 13,1987, to produce the documents that were the subject of the wife’s first request for production.

On February 12, 1987, the husband filed answers to the wife’s first interrogatories and a response to the wife’s first request for production. The magistrate judge characterized the husband’s answers as evasive and the response as incomplete.

In June, 1987, the wife again requested the husband to produce documents (the second request for production) and moved for leave to serve further interrogatories. In July, 1987, the wife filed a motion to compel the husband to respond to the second request for production. The magistrate judge ordered the husband to produce the documents requested in the second request for production on or before August 19, 1987, and granted leave to the wife to file further interrogatories. The magistrate judge reserved the question whether attorney fees should be awarded. On October 16, 1987, the wife submitted the new interrogatories (the second interrogatories), to which the husband responded. The magistrate judge again characterized the husband’s responses as evasive. On February 5, 1988, the husband submitted another set of answers to the second interrogatories.

On October 16,1987, the wife also filed a motion for sanctions against the husband on the grounds the husband had completely disregarded the order of July, 1987, compelling the production of the documents requested in the second request for production. The motion stated that the documents were absolutely necessary in order for the wife adequately to defend against the husband’s assertion that all assets owned by the parties were the husband’s property. The motion requested that the magistrate judge should order that all property acquired during the marriage was community property and should prohibit the husband from in any way attempting to prove that the property was his separate property.

In December, 1987, the wife moved to compel the husband to provide responses to the second interrogatories. In this motion the wife sought attorney fees and stated that, due to the continued discovery problems, the order to compel should provide that failure to comply with the order would result in sanctions, including: (1) an award of attorney fees and costs for enforcing the order, (2) striking the husband’s complaint, (3) entry of default against the husband on the wife’s counterclaim, (4) an order prohibiting the husband from presenting any evidence of separate property, (5) an order that all property owned by the parties is community property, and (6) a monetary penalty of $50 per day for each day the husband fails to comply with the order.

In ruling on the motion to compel, the magistrate judge stated that the husband had given no adequate reason why his responses to the second interrogatories were incomplete. The magistrate judge then: (1) granted the motion to compel responses to the second interrogatories and required the husband to file the complete responses within twenty-one days, (2) ordered the husband to arrange for depositions of both parties within forty-two days at the husband’s expense, (3) reserved ruling whether to award further sanctions against the husband, and (4) awarded $300 as attorney fees to the wife.

For reasons that are not explained in the record, the wife did not take the husband’s deposition until March 7, 1989. The notice of taking the deposition requested the husband to bring with him various documents, including bank statements from 1986 to early 1989 and all records indicating the disposition of a balance $239,233.13 as of November 28, 1986, in a specified bank account. The husband failed to produce *188 the requested bank statements and was unable to account for the disposition of the balance in the bank accounts.

In April, 1989, the wife moved for default judgment against the husband on her counterclaim on the grounds that the husband had failed to comply with, her discovery requests and had flagrantly disregarded the order of the magistrate judge.

In May, 1989, the wife moved for alternate relief, requesting: (1) the award of attorney fees, (2) an order that all property owned during the marriage was community property and prohibiting the husband from introducing any evidence or asserting a separate property interest in any property owned by either party during the marriage, (3) an order that all income of the husband from real estate sale contracts be deposited in trust for disbursement only upon order of the court, and (4) an order that the husband account for all income and expenses from the date of separation to the present.

On May 22, 1989, the magistrate judge entered an order reciting the history of the husband’s failure to comply with discovery:

[The husband] has consistently resisted discovery. The matters which he has failed to completely respond to, such as the bank statements, are crucial to [the wife’s] case. The savings of the parties must be traced. These funds may have been used to purchase property which [the husband] has not disclosed in discovery. The source of funds for the property purchased by [the husband] must be traced.

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Bluebook (online)
832 P.2d 757, 122 Idaho 186, 1992 Ida. LEXIS 109, 1992 WL 104962, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nollenberger-v-nollenberger-idaho-1992.