Tracy Jo Mullins v. Matt Robert Mullins, 02-16-00449-CV

Background

Tracy Jo Mullins and Matt Mullins litigated a divorce in Parker County; Matt counterclaimed alleging forgery, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and misapplication of community property.
Tracy repeatedly failed to comply with written discovery and refused to answer deposition questions; multiple motions to compel and for sanctions were filed by Matt.
The trial court issued two prior orders compelling discovery (one agreed order) but did not impose sanctions then; Tracy continued noncompliance and did not appear at the sanctions hearing.
The court then issued a sanctions order striking Tracy’s pleadings, barring her from presenting or disputing evidence, awarding attorney’s fees to Matt, and granting a default judgment—i.e., death-penalty sanctions—without explaining why lesser sanctions would be inadequate.
Six days later the court held a default prove-up hearing (Tracy absent) and entered a final divorce decree that relied on the sanctions order, awarding exemplary damages and other relief to Matt.
On appeal the Second Court of Appeals reversed: it held the trial court abused its discretion by imposing death-penalty sanctions as an initial sanction without considering or explaining why lesser sanctions would not suffice, and remanded for further proceedings.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court properly imposed death-penalty discovery sanctions	Mullins (Tracy) argued the court erred by imposing death-penalty sanctions without considering lesser sanctions or explaining why they would fail	Mullins (Matt) argued the court implicitly considered lesser sanctions by previously ordering compliance and deferring sanctions earlier; no special phrasing required in sanctions order	Reversed: court abused discretion; death-penalty sanctions cannot be imposed initially without analysis of lesser sanctions and a reasoned explanation
Whether prior orders compelling discovery satisfied the requirement to consider lesser sanctions	Tracy: prior orders are not imposition of lesser sanctions and do not substitute for explanation	Matt: prior orders amount to lesser sanctions/strikes and show consideration	Held: Prior threatened/conditional orders do not satisfy requirement; record lacked analysis or explanation
Whether the final divorce decree must be reversed when it depends on an invalid default judgment based on improper sanctions	Tracy: decree depends on the invalid sanctions/default and must be reversed	Matt: (implicit) decree valid because evidence and judgment followed prove-up	Held: Because decree rested on the sanctions/default judgment, the final decree was reversed and case remanded
Whether court needed to impose lesser sanctions first or provide explanation when imposing death-penalty sanctions	Tracy: required to consider lesser sanctions and either try them or explain why they would be ineffective	Matt: court need not use particular wording and prior conduct shows consideration	Held: Court must either impose lesser sanctions first or clearly explain why the case is exceptional and why lesser sanctions would not promote compliance; neither occurred here

Key Cases Cited

Cire v. Cummings, 134 S.W.3d 835 (Tex. 2004) (trial court must analyze available lesser sanctions and provide reasoned explanation when imposing death-penalty sanctions)
Spohn Hosp. v. Mayer, 104 S.W.3d 878 (Tex. 2003) (record should explain appropriateness of severe sanctions; death penalty appropriate only in exceptional cases)
TransAm. Nat. Gas Corp. v. Powell, 811 S.W.2d 913 (Tex. 1991) (sanction must be just; trial court must consider less stringent sanctions)
Nath v. Tex. Children’s Hosp., 446 S.W.3d 355 (Tex. 2014) (standard of abuse-of-discretion review for sanctions)
GTE Commc’ns Sys. Corp. v. Tanner, 856 S.W.2d 725 (Tex. 1993) (trial court required to explain why lesser sanctions would be ineffective)
Citibank, N.A. v. Estes, 385 S.W.3d 671 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2012) (absence of explanation for a severe sanction is inadequate)
Braden v. Downey, 811 S.W.2d 922 (Tex. 1991) (examples of death-penalty sanctions and related analysis)