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New Cases For the Week of May 7, 2001 - May 11, 2001
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May 11, 2001
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Case
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Court
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Holding
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In
re Kennedy
(DBN Subscription Required) |
6th CIr. |
A
defamatory statement which, under State law is considered
libelous per se (in this case a statement regarding another's
chastity), satisfies the requirement in Kawaauhau v. Geiger
that a debtor must have intended that injury result from his
conduct for a tort debt to be nondischargeable under 11 USC
523(a)(6). |
State
Bar v. Taggart
(DBN Subscription Required) |
9th Cir. |
Since
costs for investigation and prosecution of a bar grievance are
compensation to the State Bar for "actual pecuniary
loss" rather than "fine[s], penalt[ies], or
forfeiture[s]," such costs are dischargeable. |
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May 10, 2001
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Case
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Court
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Holding
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In
re Billy Baldwin
(Adobe Acrobat required to view) |
9th Cir.
BAP |
Where
a prepetition State court lawsuit alleged an "intentional
tort" against creditor, the default judgment entered was
entitled to preclusive effect for 523(a)(6) purposes. |
In
re Harmon
(Adobe Acrobat required to view) |
9th Cir.
BAP |
Under
California law, preclusive collateral estoppel effects can
arise from a default judgment where: (i) the defendant
"has been personally served with summons or has actual
knowledge of the existence of the litigation and (ii) the
court actually determines the issue. The court erred in
giving preclusive effect to a prepetition judgment against the
debtor, since the trial court did not make specific findings
on the relevant issues. |
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May 9, 2001
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Case
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Court
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Holding
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Middle
Tennessee News Co. v. Charnel Of Cincinnati
(DBN Subscription Required) |
7th Cir. |
When
an independent accountant appointed in federal district court
litigation between a debtor and a creditor made prepetition
findings against the debtor, and the district court entered
judgment on such findings (pursuant to the court-appointed
magistrate's adoption of the findings) after the bankruptcy
case was dismissed, the judgment was not void despite the fact
certain void actions (including the magistrate's adoption of
the accountant's findings) occurred in the litigation
postpetition/predismissal |
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May 7, 2001
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Case
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Court
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Holding
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Mercuris
Investment Holding, Ltd. v. Aranha
(DBN Subscription Required) |
1st Cir. |
The
court-ordered prepetition deposit of debtor's funds into an
escrow account pending the outcome of fraud litigation against
the debtor would remove the funds from the debtor's bankruptcy
estate. However, no valid escrow was formed even though
the subject funds were deposited into the bank account of
debtor's counsel. Counsel for the debtor and counsel for
the fraud plaintiff were in the process of negotiating a
formal, written escrow agreement when the bankruptcy
intervened, preventing the finalization of an escrow contract. |
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