In the case of Tobin v. Tobin, the Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District ruled that an allegedly battered spouse was entitled to an evidentiary hearing before her pleadings were struck by the court for refusing to disclose her new address and other information during discovery and for failing to attend a video deposition. The spouse was entitled to put on evidence to corroborate her concerns before the court could strike her pleadings.
In Virginia, Rule 4:12 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia permit a court to enter an order striking out pleadings or parts thereof for discovery noncompliance or due to a party's failure to attend his or her deposition. However, I strongly suspect that the spouse in in this case would have been entitled to an evidentiary hearing before that sanction was imposed had this proceeding been held in Virginia. Also, in Virginia, at least, the attorney for the allegedly battered spouse might have been able to secure a protective order to put in place sufficient safeguards in place to avoid dealing with possibility of sanctions in first place.
-Rob Hagy, Charlottesville Divorce Lawyer. For help with this and other divorce related issues, please contact me at [email protected] or (434)293-4562.