Missouri Court Of Appeals Western District Case Summaries: December 1, 2008.

Byline: Missouri Lawyers Weekly Staff

Civil Practice

Contempt Order - Remedy Available - Writ

Where a party filed a petition for a writ of prohibition to set aside a judgment for civil contempt, the preliminary writ must be quashed because the party had an adequate remedy available by way of appeal since the issuance of an order of commitment made the contempt order final and appealable.

Preliminary writ of prohibition is quashed.

State ex rel. Bugg v. Daniels (MLW No. 58335) (5 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Dandurand, J.) Original proceeding in prohibition (Eldon K. Bugg, pro se) (Jean Strandberg Goldstein, Columbia, for respondent).

Discovery - Sanctions - Compensatory Damages

(1)Where defendants in a civil case repeatedly gave evasive answers to discovery requests, their counsel withdrew because she was unable to obtain cooperation on discovery issues and defendant failed to appear at hearings, the trial court properly found that the defendants acted with deliberate disregard for court authority and the court's striking of defendants' pleadings, leading to a default judgment, was not an abuse of discretion, and defendants were not denied an adequate defense when their new attorney was prohibited from participating in the default judgment hearing.

(2)Where plaintiffs presented substantial …