JACKIE MOORE,
Plaintiff,
v
.
Columbus County
No. 03 CVS 00176
PRISCILLA DENESE DUNCAN, ELISA
MCJUNKINS DUNCAN, PATRICIA PAGE
NORRIS, and LLOYD DANIEL HINSON,
Defendants.
Ralph G. Jorgensen, for plaintiff-appellant.
Crossley, McIntosh, Prior & Collier, by H. Mark Hamlet, for
defendant-appellees Priscilla D. Duncan and Elisa M. Duncan.
HUDSON, Judge.
Plaintiff Jackie Moore brought this action for personal
injuries resulting from a car collision. On 15 October 2003, the
court entered a sanctions order denying defendants Patricia Page
Norris (Norris) and Lloyd Daniel Hinson (Hinson) the right to
offer evidence as to the liability and negligence of their co-
defendants, on account of their failure to answer discovery. On 5
December 2003, the court denied plaintiff's motion for
reconsideration of the order. Plaintiff appeals from the court's
denial of her motion. As discussed below, we affirm. The order denying plaintiff's motion for reconsideration is
interlocutory. An interlocutory order is immediately appealable
if . . . the trial court has certified the case for appeal under
Rule 54(b) of the Rules of Civil Procedure. . . . Eckard v.
Smith, __ N.C. App. __, __, 603 S.E.2d 134, 138-39 (2004). Because
the trial court certified this case for appeal under Rule 54(b),
this appeal is properly before us.
Plaintiff was injured when the car in which she was a
passenger was struck by a car driven by defendant Priscilla Duncan
and owned by defendant Elisa Duncan. The car in which plaintiff
rode was driven by defendant Norris and owned by defendant Hinson.
Defendants Duncan cross-claimed against Norris and Hinson, and
Norris and Hinson cross-claimed against the Duncans. After Norris
refused to respond to interrogatories and a request for production
of documents from the Duncans, the Duncans obtained an order
compelling responses. When Norris still did not respond, the
Duncans sought sanctions. Following a hearing on the matter, which
plaintiff's counsel did not attend despite receiving notice, the
court issued an order preventing Norris from offering any evidence
as to the Duncans' negligence and barring Hinson from offering
evidence of Norris' statements. Plaintiff moved for
reconsideration on grounds that the order was highly prejudicial to
plaintiff because it prevented her from calling Norris and Hinson
as adverse witnesses. Plaintiff argues that the court erred in refusing to
reconsider the discovery sanction ordered against defendant Norris.
We disagree.
The standard of review on appeal from the denial of a motion
for reconsideration is whether the trial court abused its
discretion. Muse v. Charter Hospital of Winston-Salem, Inc., 117
N.C. App. 468, 481, 452 S.E.2d 589, 598, affirmed per curiam, 342
N.C. 403, 464 S.E.2d 44 (1995). Rule 37 of the N.C. Rules of Civ.
Proc., provides for sanctions for failure to comply with discovery.
The administration of [the discovery] rules lies necessarily
within the province of the trial courts; Rule 37 allowing the trial
court to impose sanctions is flexible, and broad discretion must be
given to the trial judge with regard to sanctions. Carpenter v.
Cooke, 58 N.C. App. 381, 385, 293 S.E.2d 630, 632, cert. denied and
appeal dismissed, 306 N.C. 740, 295 S.E.2d 758 (1982) (internal
quotation marks omitted). Sanctions under Rule 37 are within the
sound discretion of the trial court and will not be overturned on
appeal absent a showing of abuse of that discretion. Hursey v.
Homes By Design, Inc., 121 N.C. App. 175, 177, 464 S.E.2d 504, 505
(1995). This Court will not reverse a trial court for abuse of
discretion without a showing that its ruling was so arbitrary that
it could not have been the result of a reasoned decision. Id.
Here, the court imposed sanctions because defendant Norris
failed to comply with the previous Order of this Court filed
August 4, 2003 compelling Defendant Norris to fully and completely
respond to Interrogatories and Request for Production of Documentsserved by the Duncans. Because the court's imposition of
sanctions against Norris was not arbitrary, we find no abuse of
discretion.
Affirmed.
Judges WYNN and ELMORE concur.
Report per Rule 30(e).
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