Henderson v. Woolley (In Re Woolley)Henderson v. Woolley (In Re Woolley)
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
Creditor/Plaintiff LaNae Henderson (“Plaintiff’) petitions this Court to except her judgment debt from discharge in the Chapter 7 bankruptcy case filed by Debt- or/Defendant James M. Woolley (“Debt- or”) on the basis that Debtor’s actions underlying the judgment constituted the infliction of “willful and malicious injury” to Plaintiff. This Court has jurisdiction in this core adversary proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 157(b).
BACKGROUND
Plaintiff filed the action underlying her damages award
1
(“the prior case” or “the prior action”) in the United States District
On January 8, 2001, Debtor filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection and sought to have the judgment debt to Plaintiff discharged. Plaintiff has petitioned this Court to declare the debt nondischargeable under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(6) and now moves for summary judgment.
FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c), a federal trial court may grant summary judgment if the record before the court, including pleadings, admissions on file, and affidavits, shows that there is no genuine issue of any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
See Transam. Leasing, Inc. v. Inst. of London Underwaters,
11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(6) excepts from discharge in bankruptcy a debt resulting from the debtor’s “willful and malicious injury” to a creditor. Here, Plaintiff contends that issues decided in the prior case prove that Debtor willfully and maliciously injured her, that the District Court judgment collaterally estops Debtor from re-litigating any issue decided in that case, and that no genuine issue with respect to dischargeability under § 523(a)(6) remains for this Court to decide. In support of her contention, Plaintiff asserts that at all times relevant to the prior action, up to and including the judgment for damages, her allegations concerning Debtor’s intentional infliction of mental distress was an integral part of her Complaint. 3 Aff. of [Pl.’s Att’y] Richard J. Tuneski.
Debtor contends that because Connecticut law provides that damages may be awarded for intentional infliction of emotional distress if the actor “knew or should have known that emotional distress was the likely result of his conduct,” Letter Br. of Debtor/Def. (Aug. 9, 2001), the damages award could have been based on Debtor’s negligent or reckless state of mind as to causing injury, and hence, the issue of Debtor’s intent to cause “willful and malicious injury” remains as a triable issue in the instant action. 4
a. Collateral Estoppel
The debt which Plaintiff seeks to except from discharge resulted from a judgment in a federal diversity case applying Connecticut tort law. Under principles of collateral estoppel (issue preclusion), which apply to bankruptcy proceedings in which
Federal and Connecticut law
5
provide that collateral estoppel applies when the identical issue sought to be litigated in the action at bar was “actually litigated” and “necessarily decided” in a prior action between identical parties.
6
See Brown v. Felsen,
i. “Actually Litigated” Requirement
(1) As a threshold matter, satisfaction of the “actually litigated” requirement is not precluded in this case by the fact that the damages award underlying Debtor’s debt to Plaintiff was rendered in a default judgment.
The prior action in the instant case ended in a default judgment and award of damages. Both the Connecticut Supreme Court and federal courts, including the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, have held that under some circumstances, a trial court may give preclusive effect to a default judgment. Those circumstances include instances in which a party opposing preclusion had adequate opportunity to litigate the issue in the prior proceeding,
Jackson v. R.G. Whipple, Inc.,
Here, Debtor knowingly participated in the prior action and had ample opportunity to defend on the merits. He moved to dismiss each count and his motions were successful with respect to two counts. He pursued dismissal of the entire case under the Connecticut doctrine of parental immu
Furthermore, Debtor chose not to defend despite the foreseeability of the conclusive effect of his decision to withdraw. See Ruling on Damages at 2 (noting that “defense counsel had thoroughly advised [Debtor] as to the ramifications of such a decision”). Debtor may therefore be held to the consequences of the default judgment in this bankruptcy proceeding without offending due process.
Debtor’s participation in the prior case was substantial, and the consequences of his withdrawal in a subsequent bankruptcy proceeding were reasonably foreseeable. Therefore, the default nature of the prior judgment does not preclude a finding that the prior case was actually litigated.
(2) The fact, nature, and extent of Debt- or’s sexual and physical abuse of Plaintiff were “actually litigated” in the prior proceeding.
An issue was “actually litigated” if it “was effectively raised in the prior action, either in the pleadings or through development of the evidence and argument at trial or on motion.”
In re Bush,
ii. “Necessarily Decided” Requirement
The fact, nature, and extent of Debtor’s sexual and physical abuse were “necessarily decided” in the prior case.
An issue is “necessarily decided” if, in the absence of a determination of the issue, the judgment could not have been validly rendered,
R and R Pool & Patio,
In the prior case, the conclusions established in the Ruling on Damages were integral to the award of damages. The facts recited by the District Court were not extraneous to its conclusion that Plaintiff had suffered sexual and physical abuse resulting in past, present and future pain and suffering and extreme emotional distress, but were directly probative of the elements necessary to find, and the court’s legal conclusion of, sexual abuse. Thus, the facts of Debtor’s abuse and Plaintiffs resulting distress were “necessarily decided.”
Therefore, because the facts of Debtor’s sexual and physical abuse of Plaintiff and of her resulting emotional distress were “actually litigated” and “necessarily decided,” the judgment rendered by the District Court and the facts and conclusions set forth in the Ruling on Damages are binding on Debtor and may not be relitigated.
b. Willful and Malicious Injury Under § 523(a)(6)
The ultimate issue is whether the District Court’s conclusion that Debtor caused harm to Plaintiff in the form of physical and sexual abuse and the indisputable facts and conclusions related in the opinion, combined with other evidence in the record before this Court, are sufficient, as a matter of law, to support the granting of summary judgment with respect to Debt- or’s commission of a “willful and malicious injury” within the meaning of 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(6).
Federal law governs the determination of what constitutes “willful and malicious injury” under § 523(a)(6).
See Kawaauhau v. Geiger,
Numerous
post-Geiger
decisions have attempted to amplify and further articulate the precise state of mind required by the
Geiger
standard in order to determine whether an injury is willfully and maliciously inflicted. It is clear that engaging in a voluntary act with the desire to cause harm or the knowledge that injury will occur to a
targeted
person is sufficiently “willful and malicious.”
See Johnson v. Fors (In re Fors),
Another articulation of the
post-Geiger
standard, and the standard on which this Court has relied, was stated in
Miller v. J.D. Abrams, Inc. (In re Miller),
The Fifth Circuit standard is similar to that articulated by the Eleventh Circuit before
Geiger
was decided. In
Hope v. Walker (In re Walker),
This Court, mindful that summary judgment should be granted with caution where questions of intent or motive are presented,
Hammer v. Slater,
The issue before the District Court in rendering the Ruling on Damages was to determine whether the record supported
(1) The Ruling on Damages conclusively establishes that Debtor’s acts were willful in that they targeted Plaintiff and were direct, trespassory, and intentional, not merely reckless, negligent, or neglectful. 8 Debtor beat Plaintiff “around the legs and buttocks with a leather strap, sometimes drawing blood.” Id. at 2. He did “ ‘whatever he wanted to do [sexually],’ manually and orally,” beginning when Plaintiff was four years of age, in her bedroom late at night. Id. at 3. He persisted in the abuse when she pretended to be asleep. Id. He had sexual intercourse with Plaintiff. Id. at 4. He repeated the acts of abuse continually over a period of years. Id. He warned Plaintiff not to tell anyone about the continuing abuse and threatened to kill her if she ran away. Id.
(2) The only plausible inference from the facts and conclusions set out in the Ruling on Damages is that Debtor’s acts were certain or substantially certain to result in injury to Plaintiff.
“It defies human response and sensitivity to conclude that the inevitable product of the sexual molestation of a child is not intended.”
Patrons Mut. Ins. Co. of Conn. v. Maguire,
(S) The Ruling on Damages establishes that Debtor was actually aware that his
Although Debtor denies that his intent to injure his daughter could be “obvious,” because the intent of a child molester could be anything from “the ultimate act of self absorption, simple depravity, sexual deviance, learned behavior from the actor’s own childhood, or some combination of factors [which] may never be known,” Debt- or’s Br. at 5, “[a]s the probability of injury to another, apparent from the facts within the acting party’s knowledge, becomes greater, [the actor’s] conduct takes on more of the attributes of intent, until it approaches and finally becomes indistinguishable from the substantial certainty of harm that underlies intent.”
Allstate Ins. Co. v. Plude,
The Ruling on Damages in the prior case sets forth facts and conclusions which establish, as a matter of law, that Debtor’s actions constituted willful and malicious injury. The abuse was willful in that it was intentional, continual, and trespassory. The abuse was malicious in that it was inherently injurious, and targeted at Plaintiff despite Debtor’s knowledge that his actions caused Plaintiff to suffer injury and in that Debtor threatened to kill Plaintiff if she ran away. 9
CONCLUSION
Therefore, I find that Debtor’s acts constituted a willful and malicious injury as contemplated in § 523(a)(6) and interpreted in
Geiger
and subsequent decisions, that no genuine issue of material fact as to any element of willful and malicious injury remains to be decided with respect to dis
ORDER
Pursuant to the foregoing, IT IS THE ORDER OF THIS COURT that Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment is granted and that Debtor is collaterally estopped from litigating the issue of his intent to cause injury to Plaintiff in this Court. Plaintiffs judgment award rendered in the prior District Court case is nondischargeable in Debtor’s bankruptcy case, and Defendant remains obligated for the full repayment of those sums, with interest after judgment, until paid in full.
Notes
. Case No. 2:92CV1055 (D.Conn.). The case was filed "in or about 1992.” Pl.'s Br. in Supp. of Mot. for Summ. J.
. Plaintiffs Complaint included claims for child abuse, breach of parental duty, false imprisonment, incestuous abuse, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The claims for breach of parental duty and false imprisonment were dismissed in 1993 for failure to state a claim. See Ruling on Def.’s Mot. to Dismiss at 5-6 (July 27, 1993) (Covello, J.), and Plaintiff did not pursue the claim for incestuous abuse, see Ruling on Damages at 1-2 (Dec. 16, 1997) (Burns, J.).
. The record in this case includes, in addition to the various filings, briefs, and oral arguments in the instant adversary proceeding, the following items regarding the prior action: the ruling on the defendant’s motion to dismiss by District Judge Alfred V. Covello of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut [hereinafter “District Court’’] (July 27, 1993); the judgment order (Dec. 31, 1997) (filed February 26, 1998), the supplemental judgment order on damages (filed February 26, 1998), the ruling on damages by Senior District Court Judge Ellen Bree Burns (Dec. 16, 1997), Plaintiff's attorney’s affidavit, and Plaintiffs affidavit.
. Debtor also contends that because Plaintiff's Complaint is not in the record, Mr. Tunesky’s affiance is not proof that mental distress was the basis for Plaintiff's recovery, and that, in any event, recovery for the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress was not possible under Connecticut law due to a statute of limitations bar. See Br. of Debtor/Defendant at 4 (filed June 14, 2001).
These contentions are without merit. First, because Mr. Tunesky, as attorney of record in the prior case, had personal knowledge of the contents of Plaintiff's Complaint and events in the prior case, this Court may consider and accord evidentiary weight to the sworn statements in his affidavit with respect to the mental distress claim as a basis for Plaintiff’s recovery. Further, because Debtor does not controvert the affiance but merely objects to the absence of Plaintiff's Complaint in the Record before this Court, the affiance stands as uncontroverted evidence.
Second, the Ruling on Damages supports Mr. Tunesky’s affiance that "Plaintiff's allegations concerning the infliction of mental distress was an integral part of Plaintiff’s Complaint and remained so through to Judgment.” The damages award was based on the child abuse claim, and the District Court considered "the past, present and future pain and suffering and the extreme emotional distress” suffered by Plaintiff in its determination of the amount of the award. See Ruling on Damages at 8.
. Although federal law controls the determination of whether state or federal law of issue preclusion is to be applied to federal diversity court judgments,
see Semtek Int'l, Inc. v. Lockheed Martin Corp.,
. Federal preclusion law requires, in addition, that "[t]he burden of persuasion in the discharge proceeding must not be significantly heavier than ... in the initial action.”
In re Bush,
. The
In re Walker
court relied on the following language from the Restatement of Torts, as quoted in a Third Circuit opinion, in support of its conclusion: "The word 'intent' ... denote[s] that the actor desires to cause consequences of his act, or that
[the actor] believes
that the consequences are substantially certain to result from it.”
In re Walker,
. The Ruling on Damages gives the following account of Plaintiff's testimony:
The sexual abuse of LaNae began when she was four years old. Her father would come to her room late at night, wake her up and molest her, "doing whatever he wanted to do,” manually and orally. If she pretended to remain asleep her father would persist in the molestation in any event. Plaintiff testified that she felt shameful, humiliated, powerless and "not really there at the time." Because the only time her father was not cold and violent was when he was molesting her[,] she was very confused about his affections for her.
When she was seven years old[,] she confided what was happening to her in her mother. Her mother confronted her father, who cried at the time and agreed to see their minister. He saw the minister once and, upon the minister's recommendation, saw a psychiatrist once. He ceased molesting LaNae for the following six months but began again after this short period. Her father warned her to never again tell anyone and when she threatened to run away, he told her that if she did, and if he found her, he would kill her....
The sexual abuse continued for the next five years, and when Plaintiff was twelve years old Defendant started having sexual intercourse with her. Such extreme abuse continued until LaNae was fourteen, when her mother finally divorced her father and LaNae was physically separated from him.
Ruling on Damages at 3-4.
. The dearth of express language in the Ruling on Damages regarding Debtor's intent is not determinative. The District Court necessarily applied Connecticut law.
See Erie R.R. Co.
v.
Tompkins,