Chatmon v. Churchill Trucking Co.

467 F. Supp. 79, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13681
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Missouri
DecidedMarch 19, 1979
Docket79 0195 CV W 4
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 467 F. Supp. 79 (Chatmon v. Churchill Trucking Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chatmon v. Churchill Trucking Co., 467 F. Supp. 79, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13681 (W.D. Mo. 1979).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ELMO B. HUNTER, District Judge.

On March 8, 1979, plaintiff herein filed a pleading in this Court styled “Petition to Register Foreign Judgment”. He paid the filing fee and necessary service fees to the Marshal and the case was filed by the Clerk as a new civil action. In pertinent part the petition reads:

3. The plaintiff has a Claim against the defendant Churchill Trucking Company in the sum of ($2,000,000) Two Million Dollars, interest and costs.
4. The Claim arose on or about January 20, 1977, as the result of entry of default judgment entered and rendered on the 4th day of February 1977 .
5. The certified copy of the Notice of entry of Default Judgment is attached to this petition and this application for registration of said judgment is made by verified petition to this Court, with a certified copy of the Judgment of the United States District. Court for the District of Kansas AUTHENTICATED IN THE MANNER AUTHORIZED [sic] by laws of the United States.
Wherefore plaintiff prays that the Judgment be registered in the sum of ($2,000,-000) Two Million Dollars.

The “certified copy of the Judgment” described by plaintiff is, in reality, a letter to plaintiff from Arthur G. Johnson, Clerk of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas, dated February 4, 1977. It reads:

In reply to your letter of February 1, 1977, I would advise that our office properly filed your affidavit of default pursuant to Rule 55(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The filing of such a pleading simply establishes that the answering party is in default of pleading.
Thereafter a default judgment may be entered by the Clerk of the Court depending upon the nature of the plaintiff’s claim, Rule 55(b), F.R.C.P. Where the plaintiff’s claim is for a sum certain or for a sum that can be made certain by computation . . ., the Clerk may enter judgment, Rule 55(b)(1), F.R.C.P. In all other cases the party seeking judgment shall apply to the judge therefor and proceed as mandated by Rule 55(b)(2), F.R.C.P.
I believe, under the provisions of Rule 55, F.R.C.P., our office acted properly and that your relief must be afforded by the Court.

The copy of this letter submitted by plaintiff bears the stamp and seal of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas showing that it is a true and correct copy of a document on file with that Court.

Attached to the petition are documents styled as “Notice to Clerk of Court Rendering Judgment”, and an “Application for Writ of Attachment, Sequestration and Assistance.”

*81 Defendant has moved to dismiss this action on the ground that the petition is facially insufficient to show that any judgment has been entered in plaintiff’s favor. Defendants also request “such relief as may be necessary and appropriate to permanently prohibit plaintiff from abusing this Court as well as the defendants . . ..” To determine the merits of this motion, it is necessary to trace the path of plaintiff’s past dealings with this and other Courts. The “saga”, as counsel for defendant aptly puts it, begins in the District of Kansas. 1

On October 7, 1977, the Honorable Earl E. O’Connor, United States District Judge for the District of Kansas, entered an order dismissing Chatmon v. Churchill Truck Lines, No. 76 — 241-C2, the case underlying this action, when plaintiff refused to respond to interrogatories served upon him by defendant despite an order of the Court to do so. Four days later, Judge O’Connor entered an order denying plaintiff’s “Motion for Judgment on Surety Bond”.

On February 2, 1978, Judge O’Connor entered an order that reads in pertinent part:

Since January 20, 1977, plaintiff has consistently contended that he has obtained a default judgment against the defendant in the sum of Two Million Dollars. The court has, on numerous occasions, informed plaintiff that he is incorrect and that no such judgment has been obtained. (Memorandum and Order of February 16, 1977; Memorandum and Order of March 11, 1977; Memorandum and Order of April 21, 1977; and Order of August 25, 1977). On September 30, 1977, in open court, the court once again painstakingly explained to the plaintiff that he had obtained no judgment. .
Since October 13, 1977, plaintiff has continued to file documents in an apparent attempt to collect on his non-existent “judgment.” Some of these documents have even been served by the United States Marshal, including one self-styled “Writ of Execution . . ..”

Judge O’Connor’s order directed the Clerk of his Court and the United States Marshal “to refrain from processing or serving any document filed by plaintiff, which is a further attempt to execute upon [his] non-existent “judgment.” Judge O’Connor also directed plaintiff to show cause why he should not be permanently enjoined “from further abusing the processes of this court by making further attempts to execute on his non-existent ‘judgment.’ ”

In an order entered February 16, 1978, Judge O’Connor noted that plaintiff had made no attempt to respond to the earlier show cause order:

Instead, undaunted and undiscouraged by six previous rulings of this court to the effect that plaintiff has not obtained and is not entitled to a default judgment, plaintiff has attempted to file a document which he has presumptuously entitled “MANDATE”. . . .
The plaintiff has continually abused the processes of this Court. A litigant, of course, may not obtain a judgment, a mandate, or seize property via a writ of execution merely by drawing and signing a self-serving document stating that he has obtained a judgment and having such document file stamped by a clerk of a court. Since plaintiff has consistently disregarded the orders of this court, and gives every indication that he intends to keep doing so, the court feels it has no choice but to sustain defendant’s motion and enter the requested injunction against plaintiff.

Judge O’Connor therefore enjoined plaintiff from making further attempts in the District of Kansas “to execute upon his non-existent ‘judgment’ ”, and ordered the Clerk and Marshal to refuse to process or serve any document that was a further attempt to execute upon the judgment. Judge O’Connor also ordered that “any document which is an attempt to execute upon plaintiff’s non-existent ‘judgment’ shall be *82 stamped ‘RECEIVED’ and retained by the Clerk but not ‘FILED’ in the official court file.”

Approximately one year later, on February 7, 1979, Judge O’Connor was forced to take further action upon plaintiff’s case in the District of Kansas. Noting that plaintiff had attempted to serve upon defendants documents in support of his non-existent “judgment” “impressed with the seal of this Court, apparently in an effort to impart to them authenticity which is intended to mislead the recipient .

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
467 F. Supp. 79, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13681, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chatmon-v-churchill-trucking-co-mowd-1979.