Enterprise Bank v. Magna Bank of Missouri

894 F. Supp. 1337, 27 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1405, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11939, 1995 WL 494846
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedAugust 16, 1995
Docket4:94CV01411 GFG
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 894 F. Supp. 1337 (Enterprise Bank v. Magna Bank of Missouri) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Enterprise Bank v. Magna Bank of Missouri, 894 F. Supp. 1337, 27 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1405, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11939, 1995 WL 494846 (E.D. Mo. 1995).

Opinion

894 F.Supp. 1337 (1995)

ENTERPRISE BANK, Plaintiff,
v.
MAGNA BANK OF MISSOURI, Defendant.

No. 4:94CV01411 GFG.

United States District Court, E.D. Missouri, Eastern Division.

August 16, 1995.

*1338 *1339 *1340 John S. Sandberg, Lyndon P. Sommer, Sandberg and Phoenix, St. Louis, MO, for plaintiff Enterprise Bank.

Douglas R. Sprong, Paul N. Venker, Armstrong and Teasdale, St. Louis, MO, for defendant Magna Bank of Missouri.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

GUNN, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on various motions, including Magna Bank's ("Magna") motion for summary judgment. Document 14. For the reasons set forth below, the motion for summary judgment is granted.

Enterprise Bank ("Enterprise") commenced this action in the Circuit Court for the City of St. Louis, launching a collateral attack on the validity of a prejudgment attachment obtained by Magna of property then owned by Gustave and Laura Saettele ("the Saetteles") in Landmark Bank v. Saettele, No. 91-787C(5) (E.D.Mo.).[1] Magna removed the action to this Court.

In the amended complaint, Enterprise alleges that (1) Mo.Rev.Stat. § 521.010(1), which authorizes prejudgment attachment based solely on an individual's out-of-state residence, violates the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Privileges and Immunities Clause of article IV, § 2 of the United States Constitution, and the corresponding provisions of the Missouri Constitution; (2) the prejudgment attachment cannot be sustained under Mo.Rev.Stat. § 521.010(5), which allows for attachments based on exigent circumstances; (3) the attachment was ineffective as to Landmark stock owned by the Saetteles because Missouri law at the time did not permit attachment of stock by garnishment; and (4) the prejudgment attachment deprived Enterprise of its Due Process right to satisfy its judgment against the Saetteles.

A brief summary of the procedural history of this case is necessary. On March 29, 1991, Enterprise initiated an action in this Court against the Saetteles. Enterprise Bank v. Saettele, No. 91-616C(6) ("Enterprise action").[2] On April 15, 1991, Landmark Bank also filed suit against the Saetteles in this Court. Landmark Bank v. Saettele, No. 91-787C(5) ("Landmark action").[3] On September 20, 1991, Landmark moved for and obtained a prejudgment attachment of the Saetteles' property. Landmark issued garnishments in aid of attachment to various entitles, including Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. Oppenheimer & Co. maintained a securities trust account owned by Gustave Saettele, which included cash reserves and shares of Landmark Bancshares Corporation stock. Pursuant to the garnishment, the United States Marshal levied Oppenheimer & Co. on September 26.

Thereafter, on December 17, 1991, Enterprise procured a judgment of over $800,000 against the Saetteles, which it swiftly attempted to satisfy.[4] On January 3, 1992, *1341 Enterprise obtained a lien on real property the Saetteles owned in St. Louis County. Enterprise then registered its judgment in New York and sought to garnish shares of Landmark stock supposedly in the possession of the Depository Trust Corporation (DTC), which Landmark had previously attached in Missouri. This action prompted Landmark to request an injunction halting Enterprise's New York activities. This Court granted the injunction and granted Enterprise's motion to consolidate the two cases to resolve the dispute regarding the validity of Landmark's prejudgment attachment. See Enterprise Bank v. Saettele, 804 F.Supp. 1111, 1113 (E.D.Mo.1992).

This Court subsequently ruled that (1) Enterprise was barred from bringing an independent action due to its failure to appeal the denial of its motion to intervene in the Landmark action; (2) the Court lacked jurisdiction to consider Enterprise's constitutional attack on Mo.Rev.Stat. § 521.010(1) because the attachment was valid under Mo.Rev.Stat. § 521.010(5); (3) Enterprise lacked standing to challenge the attachment; and (4) the garnishment of Gustave Saettele's account at Oppenheimer was effective as to the Landmark stock. Id. at 1114-15. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated this Court's judgment on the ground that this Court lacked jurisdiction to consolidate the two cases. Enterprise Bank v. Saettele, 21 F.3d 233 (8th Cir.1994). The opinion did not address the merits of this Court's other rulings. Id. at 233-37.

Before addressing the merits of Magna's motion for summary judgment, the Court must resolve two preliminary issues raised by Enterprise. The first issue is whether the Court will take judicial notice of pleadings from the two prior cases in this Court and a bankruptcy case pending in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida, styled In re Gustave J. & Laura E. Saettele, No. 92-13727-9P7. Magna requested that the Court take judicial notice pursuant to Federal Rules of Evidence 201(c). Document 15. Enterprise maintains the request is overbroad and does not state with particularity the adjudicated facts the Court should judicially recognize. Document 21.

A Court may take judicial notice of records of related proceedings before the same Court. MacMillan Bloedel, Ltd. v. Flintkote Co. 760 F.2d 580, 587-88 (5th Cir. 1985); In re Kroh, 87 B.R. 1004, 1005 (Bankr.W.D.Mo.1988); Green v. Wyrick, 428 F.Supp. 732, 735 (W.D.Mo.1976). Accordingly, the Court will take judicial notice of the records of the two earlier actions in the Eastern District of Missouri for the purpose of establishing the facts leading up to this action. (Most of these facts are not in dispute.) The Court will also take judicial notice of the two orders entered in the bankruptcy proceeding in order to recognize the judicial acts taken and the subject matter of that litigation. See United States v. Jones, 29 F.3d 1549, 1553 (11th Cir.1994).

Second, Enterprise asserts that it has not had sufficient time to conduct the discovery necessary to respond adequately to Magna's motion for summary judgment. Magna's motion was filed on December 30, 1994. Document 14. On January 17, 1995, Enterprise requested that the Court grant it 90 days following the Court's ruling on Enterprise's motion to remand to respond to Magna's motion for summary judgment. Enterprise maintained that it needed the time to conduct "a limited amount of discovery" to determine whether the Saettele's stock was certificated or uncertificated. Document 19 at 2. Alternatively, Magna requested 20 days to respond following the Court's ruling on the motion to remand. Id. at 3. On January 18, the Court ordered Enterprise to respond to the summary judgment motion 20 days after the Court ruled on the motion to remand. Document 20. The Court denied the motion to remand on February 23, 1995. Document 25. Enterprise filed its response to Magna's motion for summary judgment on March 15, 1995. Document 31.

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894 F. Supp. 1337, 27 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1405, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11939, 1995 WL 494846, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/enterprise-bank-v-magna-bank-of-missouri-moed-1995.