Opinions

 

All court opinions may be accessed at no charge via PACER through the "Written Opinions" link on the Reports page. You must, however, have an account to access the report via CM/ECF or PACER.

Access to opinions from 1997 to present, that are PDF searchable, unrestricted & unsealed, are also available through the Government Printing Office using the Advanced Search for Government Publications. There is no login required and publications are available free of charge.

Court's Web Site Opinions Database

The court's web site provides free access of some opinions, at the discretion of the judges, for the years 1998 to present. The results shown below are automatically displayed for all years, all judges, and all keywords/topics.

A search may be performed using the Search box above, or filtering by year, judge, and/or keyword/topic. To search for more than one judge and/or keywords/topics simultaneously, hold down the Ctrl key (or Command key) and select each item.

Keywords/Topic Date Title Description Judge
Collateral Estoppel, Dischargeability, Nondischargeability, Summary Judgment     12/12/2013     Lopez Roofing Service, Inc., v. Baker     

Court entered summary judgment that debt to plaintiff was nondischargeable under Sec. 523(a)(4) (embezzlement), based upon debtor's guilty plea in prior criminal prosecution.  Court found that fact issues prevented judgment on the amount of damages.  Plaintiff's state court default judgment could not considered under claim preclusion principles because the judgment was based on alternative theories of recovery, at least one of which was dischargeable.

 Judge David T. Thuma
Injunctions, Jurisdiction     12/02/2013     Tres Hermanos Dairy, LLC.     

Debtor's motion to stay proceedings pending district court ruling on a motion to withdraw the reference denied because the court found, inter alia, that the district court was unlikely to withdraw the reference of the subject core matter.

 Judge David T. Thuma
Dischargeability, Nondischargeability     12/02/2013     Gayle-Smith v. Wilson et al     

Court found that attorney fee debt was dischargeable, and that attorney's 523(a)(2) fraud claim failed because, inter alia, attorney did not prove justifiable reliance.discha

 Judge David T. Thuma
Discharge, Nondischargeability     11/13/2013     Sierra Chemicals, LLC v. Mosley     

Creditor sought to deny debtor's discharge under 727(a)(4) and/or declare its debt nondischargeable under 523(a)(4) or (a)(6).  Court ruled that the 727(a)(4) claim lacked merit because the false statement at issue was not material.  The court ruled that creditor's 523(a)(6) claim failed because the breach of contract at issue, while intentional, was not done with intent to harm.  Court ruled in creditor's favor on the 523(a)(4) claim to the extent of $30,000, finding that debtor embezzled creditor's intangible property.disch

 Judge David T. Thuma
Judicial Estoppel, Jurisdiction, Reconsideration, Standing     10/28/2013     Baker v. Bank of New York, et al.     

Court has right and obligation to address its subject matter jurisdiction sua sponte.  Denial of plaintiffs' motion to substitute trustee of 2005 case as the sole plaintiff, made near the end of trial, properly denied when substitution would be futile and would prejudice defendant, and where plaintiffs should have discovered the ir standing problem years ago.

 Judge David T. Thuma
Collateral Estoppel, Nondischargeability, Summary Judgment     10/15/2013     Sierra Chemicals, LLC v. Mosley     

Plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment based on issue preclusion denied; federal arbitration findings are entitled to preclusive effect, but a key finding of "willfulness" under Sec. 523(a)(6) was not made by the arbitrator.

 Judge David T. Thuma
Collateral Estoppel, Judicial Estoppel, Limitation of Actions, Res Judicata, Standing     10/04/2013     Baker v. Bank of New York, et. al.     

Debtor sued mortgage company over mis-handling of mortgage loan default and foreclosure.  Court found that Debtors had valid claims at one time, but lost the claims through failure to defend the foreclosure action, schedule the claims in their bankruptcy case, or pursue the claims before the statute of limitations expired.

 Judge David T. Thuma
Chapter 13, Res Judicata     09/20/2013     Cory Don Campbell and Leah Jill Campbell     

Court grants Chapter 13 debtors' motion to modify plan to eliminate a balloon payment requirement, because (i) debtors were never told about the balloon payment and (ii)  the payment requirement was the result of counsel's errors in calculating the means test; done properly the means test would have allowed debtors to file chapter 7, and make no payments to creditors.

 Judge David T. Thuma
Automatic Stay, Discharge, Limitation of Actions, Nondischargeability     09/16/2013     Galey v. Boydstun     

Court declined to revoke debtor's discharge or declare creditor's debt nondischargeable, based on untimeliness of the complaint, creditor's knowledge of the facts prior to entry of discharge, and failure of proof on the merits.  Court found that creditor violated the automatic stay, but awarded no damages because of a failure of proof of damages.
 

 Judge David T. Thuma
Automatic Stay, Discharge, Limitation of Actions, Nondischargeability     09/16/2013     Boydstun v. Galey     

Court declined to revoke debtor's discharge or declare creditor's debt nondischargeable, based on untimeliness of the complaint, creditor's knowledge of the facts prior to entry of discharge, and failure of proof on the merits.  Court found that creditor violated the automatic stay, but awarded no damages because of a failure of proof of damages.

 Judge David T. Thuma

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