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Final Copy 288 Ga. 150 S10G0644. POINTER v. ROBERTS. MELTON, Justice. In Roberts v. Pointer, 301 Ga. App. 531 (687 SE2d 848) (2009), the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's decision to deny Devin Roberts' motion for continuance, finding that the trial court abused its discretion by essentially excluding an expert witness of Roberts who was not identified in his pretrial motion. We granted certiorari to determine if the Court of Appeals erred in finding that the trial court abused its discretion by denying Roberts' motion for continuance. For the reasons set forth below, we answer this question

affirmatively and reverse the Court of Appeals. The facts of this case show that Roberts, Michael Pointer, and Debra Pointer were involved in an automobile accident for which Roberts' liability is undisputed. On March 28, 2008, the trial court entered a consolidated pretrial order in which each party identified individuals as witnesses that "may" or "will" testify at trial and "reserved the right to call additional witnesses provided their names and addresses [were] provided to [the other party] with sufficient

notice prior to trial." Five weeks prior to trial, Roberts filed an amendment to the pretrial order, adding to the "may call" list an expert witness, Dr. Stephen C. Allen ("Dr. Allen"). Two weeks before trial, Roberts moved for a

continuance because Dr. Allen would be unavailable to testify during the week set for trial. The motion stated that Dr. Allen would be "testifying regarding the appropriateness of [Mr. Pointer's] treatment and whether the services provided and charges incurred were usual and customary." One week later, the trial court heard and denied Roberts' motion during a telephone conference with both parties that was not transcribed. As a result, the record contains neither the arguments nor the evidence presented to the trial court in favor of or against the continuance. Later in the trial proceedings, the trial court made a determination that the Pointers could call a lay witness, Reverend Osie Wilson, to testify at trial, despite the fact that Reverend Wilson was added as a witness following the filing of the pretrial order.1 Roberts, both at the trial court and on appeal, argued
The trial transcript contains two brief colloquies regarding Roberts' objection over Reverend Wilson's testimony. In the first, the trial court stated: "Okay, I'll allow [Roberts] to speak to [Wilson] before he testifies certainly and then see if there is anything specific you have to object. I think there's

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