Braunstein v. Pickens

274 F.R.D. 568, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52988, 2011 WL 1871111
CourtDistrict Court, D. South Carolina
DecidedMay 17, 2011
DocketC.A. No. 2:08-cv-193-PMD
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 274 F.R.D. 568 (Braunstein v. Pickens) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Braunstein v. Pickens, 274 F.R.D. 568, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52988, 2011 WL 1871111 (D.S.C. 2011).

Opinion

ORDER

PATRICK MICHAEL DUFFY, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Plaintiffs’ Objections to the Report and Recommendation (“R & R”) of a United States Magistrate Judge. Plaintiffs filed motions to update judgment and for supplemental proceedings, pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 69 and 70, requesting financial discovery be produced by the Defendant and that certain stock certificates, at issue in this case, be delivered to them in partial satisfaction of the judgment against the Defendant. On April 13, 2011, the Magistrate Judge recommended that Plaintiffs’ motion be granted in part and denied in part. Plaintiffs filed a timely Objection to the R & R. Having reviewed the entire record, including Plaintiffs’ Objections, the Court finds the Magistrate Judge fairly and accurately summarized the facts and applied the correct principles of law. Accordingly, the Court adopts the R & R and fully incorporates it into this Order.

BACKGROUND

As in the R & R, the Court incorporates by reference the factual recitation of this case included in its original summary judgment order. [Doc. 41.] In short, Plaintiffs sued the Defendant, in a separate action, for failed investments. The parties settled the suit for $250,000. Defendant subsequently attempted to satisfy the settlement through the tender of certain stock certificates. However, Defendant never endorsed the stock certificates, and eventually, according to Plaintiffs, the stock certificates proved worthless.

In its summary judgment order, the Court ruled that the stock certificates were never properly transferred to Plaintiffs and, therefore, could not constitute any satisfaction of the $250,000 settlement. The Court entered a judgment in that amount, plus interest, for Plaintiffs. Defendant appealed, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed.

Plaintiffs subsequently filed this motion, seeking simultaneously an amendment to, and an enforcement of, the judgment in this case. Specifically, Plaintiffs moved the court to (1) update their judgment to reflect interest that has continued to accrue on the principal amount of $250,000 at the rate of 5% per annum from 2004 to the present; (2) pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 70(b), for a judgment divesting the Defendant of title to the Certificates of Stock currently being held by the Court and vesting said title in Plaintiffs; and (3) pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 69(a) and in accord with S.C.Code §§ 15-39-310 et seq., for an order requiring Defendant to appear and produce a list of financial disclosures.

The Magistrate Judge issued an R & R on April 13, 2011, analyzing the issues and concluding that Plaintiffs’ motions should be granted in part and denied in part. As to the Rule 70(b) motion to divest Defendant of the Certificates of Stock, the Magistrate Judge noted that Plaintiffs are requesting physical possession of stock certificates, which they had previously and ardently rejected. The Magistrate Judge found that this Court has already ruled that the stock certificates do not belong to Plaintiffs as they were never legally transferred. Plaintiffs now seek that which they had originally rejected as part of the enforcement of judgment pursuant to Rule 70. However, the Magistrate Judge noted that Rule 70 only “gives the district court a discrete and limited power to deal with parties who thwart final judgments by refusing to comply with orders to perform specific acts.” R & R pp. 3-4 (citing Analytical Eng’g, Inc. v. Baldwin Filters, Inc., 425 F.3d 443, 449 (7th Cir.2005) (emphasis added)). As a result, the R & R notes two problems with Plaintiffs’ request. First, the specific act ordered was the payment of $250,000 plus allowable interest; Defendant was never ordered to perform the specific act of turning over the stock certificates to Plaintiffs. “Quite to the contrary, and as detailed, the District Court ruled [the stock certificates] belonged to the defendant.” R & R p. 4. Therefore, at this juncture, Plaintiffs have no particular legal [571]*571right in satisfaction of the judgment through delivery of the stock certificates themselves. Second, the R & R found that there is no allegation or evidence of any noneompliance such that Rule 70 might be triggered in the first instance. Id. (citing Analytical Eng’g, Inc., 425 F.3d at 449.) “This case has been on appeal and, immediately upon its return, the plaintiffs filed this motion, which itself raises questions about what ‘compliance’ even entails. Truly, the defendant has hardly had any occasion not to comply. Accordingly, any Rule 70 motion is premature.” R & R p. 4.

As to Plaintiffs’ request that the Court update their judgment to reflect interest that has continued to accrue on the principal amount of $250,000 at the rate of 5% per annum from 2004 to present, the R & R suggests clarifying the judgment to provide that interest from 2004 through January 21, 2009 accrued at 5%; however, interest subsequent to January 21, 2009 should be paid in accordance with, and at the rate prescribed by 28 U.S.C. § 1961. Plaintiffs argue that the statutory rate does not apply to the post-judgment interest in this case because the promissory note at issue stipulates an interest of 5%. The R & R found that this Court ruled in its order on summary judgment that the “Defendant still owes Plaintiffs the $250,000 plus interest he promised to pay them under the terms of the promissory note.” R & R p. 5. “The promissory note, however, does not speak to the rate applicable after any judgment relating to performance or compliance is obtained.” R & R pp. 5-6. 28 U.S.C. § 1961 establishes a uniform federal rate for post judgment interest “on any money judgment in a civil case recovered in district court.” 28 U.S.C. § 1961(a). “Parties may contractually agree to a different rate, but that agreement must be expressed in ‘clear, unambiguous and unequivocal language ____’ Conversely, where the parties fail to contract for a different rate, the statutory rate applies. As stated, the promissory note does not provide for any particular post-judgment rate.” R & R p. 6. Therefore, the Magistrate Judge recommended that the judgment should be clarified to provide that interest subsequent to January 21, 2009, should be paid in accordance with, and at the rate prescribed by, 28 U.S.C. § 1961.

Finally, as to Plaintiffs’ original and supplemental requests for certain discovery under Fed.R.Civ.P. 69, the Magistrate Judge found those requests to be premature. Rule 69 discovery requests are only available after the defendant has failed to voluntarily comply -with the judgment.

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Bluebook (online)
274 F.R.D. 568, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52988, 2011 WL 1871111, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/braunstein-v-pickens-scd-2011.