Heitmanis v. Rayes (In re Rayes)

496 B.R. 449
United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Michigan·Decided July 16, 2013·No. Bankruptcy No. 08-40809; Adversary No. 08-04453·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

OPINION DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

WALTER SHAPERO, Bankruptcy Judge.

Introduction

Defendants pled guilty to Embezzlement from a Vulnerable Adult in a state court proceeding and were ordered to pay restitution. Plaintiff filed this adversary proceeding seeking nondischargeability of the restitution amounts under various subsections of 11 U.S.C. § 523 and now seeks summary judgment. For the following reasons, summary judgment is denied.

Background

Joseph Rayes and Sandra Rayes, the debtor-defendants in this case (“Defendants”) both pled guilty in the Macomb County, Michigan Circuit Court (the “State Court”) to the crime of Embezzlement from a Vulnerable Adult in excess of $20,000, pursuant to M.C.L. 750.174a. That statute states: “A person shall not through fraud, deceit, misrepresentation, coercion, or unjust enrichment obtain or use or attempt to obtain or use a vulnerable adult’s money or property to directly or indirectly benefit that person knowing or having reason to know the vulnerable adult is a vulnerable adult.” That guilty plea stemmed from a course of action in which Defendants took advantage of an elderly and partially incapacitated woman named Irene Ignatius by obtaining power of attorney over her and converting her extensive assets for the their own personal benefit. The State Court ordered Defendants to pay $919,356 in restitution, and further ordered incarceration and probation. Defendants thereafter filed this Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Ms. Ignatius has since died and this adversary proceeding is brought by George Heitmanis (“Plaintiff’), who had been appointed her full guardian by an [452]*452order of the Macomb County, Michigan Probate Court. Plaintiff moved for summary judgment on the grounds that the State Court restitution order is, as a matter of law, nondischargeable under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2), (a)(4), (a)(6), and (a)(7).

Jurisdiction

This Court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1334(b) and 157, and E.D. Mich. L.B.R. 83.50(a). This is a core proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(I).

Summary Judgment Standard

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 provides the statutory basis for summary judgment, and is made applicable to adversary proceedings via Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 7056. Summary judgment is only appropriate when there are no genuine issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). “[T]he mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment; the requirement is that there be no genuine issue of material

fact.” Id. (emphasis original). A “genuine” issue is present “if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. “The initial burden is on the moving party to demonstrate that an essential element of the non-moving party’s case is lacking.” Kalamazoo River Study Grp. v. Rockwell Int’l Corp., 171 F.3d 1065, 1068 (6th Cir.1999) (citing Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505).

Discussion

Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment did not provide an adequate factual basis or substantive analysis of the counts under § 523(a)(2), (a)(4), and (a)(6), essentially asserting only the statutory language and bare legal conclusions. At the hearing on Plaintiffs motion, the parties’ discussion was essentially limited exclusively to the § 523(a)(7) count. For those reasons, as to the § 523(a)(2), (a)(4), and (a)(6) counts, all of which in any event involve some degree of material factual inquiry,1 which the motion did not adequately address by affidavit or otherwise, the Court finds that Plaintiff has not met his summary judgment burden, and thus [453]*453denies the Motion without prejudice with regard to those three counts and limits this opinion to the remaining § 523(a)(7) count.

§ 523(a)(7) states that a debtor shall not be discharged for a debt “to the extent such debt is for a fine, penalty, or forfeiture payable to and for the benefit of a governmental unit, and is not compensation for actual pecuniary loss[.]” The parties’ arguments focused on Kelly v. Robinson, 479 U.S. 36, 107 S.Ct. 353, 93 L.Ed.2d 216 (1986), which interpreted the scope and application of that statute. In Kelly, the Supreme Court found that § 523(a)(7) excepted from discharge a criminal restitution order stemming from the wrongful receipt of welfare benefits from a Connecticut governmental unit to which the restitution was to be paid. The Court stated the statute applied to “all penal sanctions, whether they be denominated fines, penalties, or forfeitures.” Id. at 51, 107 S.Ct. 353. In dealing with the qualifying statutory language that the debt must be “payable to and for the benefit of a governmental unit, and is not compensation for actual pecuniary loss,” the Court found that (a) criminal restitution is not operated solely for the victim’s benefit, but for the benefit of society as a whole; (b) the victim (at least in the case presented before that Court) has no control over the award of restitution or its amount; and (c) the decision to impose restitution turns on the state’s penal goals and the offender’s punishment and rehabilitation, rather than the victim’s injury. Id. at 52, 107 S.Ct. 353. The primary policy underpinning of that decision was that the federal courts should not interfere with state criminal prosecutions. Id. at 44, 47, 107 S.Ct. 353. The Court used broad language, stating that “§ 523(a)(7) preserves from discharge any condition a state criminal court imposes as part of a criminal sentence.” Id. at 50, 107 S.Ct. 353 (emphasis added).

In light of the Kelly Court’s broad language but specific factual context with which it dealt, courts have struggled to interpret that decision. In Hughes v. Sanders, 469 F.3d 475, 476 (6th Cir.2006), the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that “Kelly applies narrowly to criminal restitution payable to a governmental unit.” Id. at 478. The Hughes Court dealt with a nondischargeability action stemming from a civil default judgment for legal malpractice that resulted in an order that the judgment debtor pay restitution to the individual victim. Though the restitution was civil, the Court deemed it to be punitive in nature.

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Heitmanis v. Rayes (In re Rayes), 496 B.R. 449 (Mich. 2013).

496 B.R. 449 (Heitmanis v. Rayes (In re Rayes)) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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