Baker v. Sharpe (In Re Sharpe)

351 B.R. 409
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedSeptember 28, 2003
Docket19-30757
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 351 B.R. 409 (Baker v. Sharpe (In Re Sharpe)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Baker v. Sharpe (In Re Sharpe), 351 B.R. 409 (Tex. 2003).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

STACEY G.C. JERNIGAN, Bankruptcy Judge.

I.

INTRODUCTION

Before this court is the Adversary Complaint Objecting to Dischargeability of Debt Under 11 U.S.C. § 523 (the “Complaint”) brought by Susan Baker (the “Plaintiff’ or “Ms. Baker”), Defendant’s Original Answer, Affirmative Defenses, and Original Counterclaim (the “Answer and Counterclaim”) filed by Cameron Barrett Sharpe (the “Defendant” or “Mr. Sharpe”), and the Plaintiffs Answer to Counter Claim [sic] of Defendant Cameron Barrett Sharpe (the “Answer to Counterclaim”). This court has jurisdiction of this matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1334 and 157. This is a core proceeding pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(A) and (I). This memorandum opinion constitutes the court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure 7052 and 9014. Where appropriate, a finding of fact will be construed as a conclusion of law and vice versa.

II.

FINDINGS OF FACT

A. Procedural Matters

Docket call of this case was on July 10, 2006. Trial of this matter was held before this court on July 17, 2006. The Plaintiff appeared through counsel, while the Defendant appeared pro se. The Defendant filed his voluntary chapter 7 petition in bankruptcy on October 13, 2005. The Complaint was filed on March 13, 2006. Defendant filed his Answer and Counterclaim on April 13, 2006, and Plaintiff filed her Answer to Counterclaim on May 26, 2006.

Two preliminary motions concerning evidence were brought by the Plaintiff. First, the Plaintiff filed her Motion to Deem Plaintiffs Request for Admissions (Admitted) and Request for Expedited Hearing (the “Admissions Motion”). Plaintiff asserted that because the Defendant did not respond to requests for admissions served upon Defendant at his last known address on June 7, 2006, that such matters should be deemed admitted pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 36, made applicable in this proceeding by Fed. R. Bankr.P. 7036. During argument of the Admissions Motion, it was revealed that Defendant’s last known address as reflected by this court’s docket was not, in fact, his current address. Plaintiffs counsel expressed that it had been very difficult to locate Defendant in order to serve him with discovery and pleadings. On the record, the Defendant announced a new service address and the court deemed such announcement as an oral change of address by the debtor in this proceeding and in the main bankruptcy case and announced that the court’s records would be changed accordingly. The court, however, denied Plaintiffs Admissions Motion because the request for admissions had been sent to Defendant’s last known address after the discovery cutoff date as set forth in this court’s Order Regarding Adversary Proceeding Trial Setting and Alternative Scheduling Order *415 (the “Scheduling Order”). Plaintiffs counsel argued that the difficulty in obtaining a workable service address for the Defendant caused the delay in serving the request for admissions. While the court sympathized with Plaintiffs difficulty, the court opined on the record, and restates such opinion here, that the Plaintiff should have come to the court as soon as such difficulty with service became apparent to request relief from this court, rather than just ignore the deadlines set forth in the court’s Scheduling Order.

Next, the Plaintiff also filed a Motion to Exclude Testimony from Debtor or Debt- or’s Witnesses, Exhibits and Evidence (the “Motion to Exclude”) asserting that, because the Defendant failed to file a witness and exhibit list or otherwise identify witnesses and exchange exhibits at least 15 days prior to docket call of the case as required by this court’s Scheduling Order, such evidence should be excluded. Consistent with the court’s ruling on the Admissions Motions strictly enforcing the deadlines set forth in the Scheduling Order, the court granted the Motion to Exclude finding that because the Defendant had failed to comply with the Scheduling Order, he would not be permitted to put on evidence with regard to his ease in chief, including his counterclaims. The Defendant was, however, permitted to object during the Plaintiffs case in chief, to cross examine her witnesses, and to put on any rebuttal evidence he might have to present to the court.

B. Factual Background

The matter before the court is essentially a dispute between two parties, former friends, regarding various loans in the aggregate sum of $150,000 made by Ms. Baker to Mr. Sharpe in 2005. It was the undisputed testimony of the parties that Ms. Baker and Mr. Sharpe met sometime in December of 2004, shortly after Ms. Baker’s divorce had become final, and that they became fast friends. Both parties, in fact, agreed that at one point their relationship could be fairly characterized as that of “best friends.” During the period of their friendship, Ms. Baker and Mr. Sharpe spent a large amount of time together and spoke to each other most every day on the telephone.

The court notes that, at trial, there was testimony about the character, behavior, or mental state or status of the Defendant and/or of the Plaintiff, some of which was inflammatory and of little probative value. To the extent the testimony was inflammatory, the court has disregarded such testimony regarding both parties as being more prejudicial than probative.

Ms. Baker is, generally, a sophisticated woman. She testified that she has a high school degree, an undergraduate degree and a Master’s degree. Ms. Baker had been married for 25 years upon her divorce and is the mother of three adult children. Her divorce from her one-and-only husband left her in a comfortable financial position, although she testified that she never informed Mr. Sharpe that she was well-off.

Mr. Sharpe’s educational background was not defined at trial, but it is clear from his testimony that he had been involved for some time in various types of business speculation. Mr. Sharpe did testify on cross that, during the time frame in question, he had had drug and alcohol abuse problems and that he had not, as of the time of trial, been able to overcome such problems.

In 2005, Mr. Sharpe and Ms. Baker were both involved in a business known as UltimateMatch.com, which, Mr. Sharpe testified, was a dating service/direct marketing enterprise in which revenues were obtained both from customers who used *416 the dating service and through distributors who sold the business to other customers and distributors. 1 Mr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
351 B.R. 409, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/baker-v-sharpe-in-re-sharpe-txnb-2003.