In Re Douglas SPEIGHT, Debtor. Joe LAUGHTER, Appellee, v. C. Douglas SPEIGHT, Appellant

Eighth Circuit

In Re Douglas SPEIGHT, Debtor. Joe LAUGHTER, Appellee, v. C. Douglas SPEIGHT, Appellant

16 F.3d 287, 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 2000, 1994 WL 33570

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

DecidedFebruary 9, 1994

Docket93-2525

StatusPublished

Cited by12 cases

This text of 16 F.3d 287 (In Re Douglas SPEIGHT, Debtor. Joe LAUGHTER, Appellee, v. C. Douglas SPEIGHT, Appellant) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

In Re Douglas SPEIGHT, Debtor. Joe LAUGHTER, Appellee, v. C. Douglas SPEIGHT, Appellant, 16 F.3d 287, 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 2000, 1994 WL 33570 (8th Cir. 1994).

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Opinion

MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD, Circuit Judge.

This is a core proceeding that arose in a voluntary bankruptcy proceeding under Chapter 7 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. At issue is the dischargeability of a judgment entered against the debtor by the Chancery Court of Benton County, Arkansas. Under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(4), a debt for “fraud or defalcation while acting in a fiduciary capacity ...” is not dischargeable. We agree with the district court 1 that the judgment in question, 147 B.R. 489, rendered in the context of an accounting on dissolution of a partnership, was quite plainly based on a finding that the debtor had committed a defalcation in the context of a fiduciary relationship. Indeed, the judgment says specifically that Speight “breached his fiduciary duty to Laughter.”

We agree, too, with the district court’s conclusion that the fifteen-page judgment of the state court contained all that was necessary to establish, under well-known principles of collateral estoppel, that the judgment debt was not dischargeable.

We therefore affirm the district court on the basis of its well-reasoned opinion below.

1

. The Honorable Jimm Lairy Hendren, United States District Judge for the Western District of Arkansas.

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MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD, Circuit Judge.

This is a core proceeding that arose in a voluntary bankruptcy proceeding under Chapter 7 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. At issue is the dischargeability of a judgment entered against the debtor by the Chancery Court of Benton County, Arkansas. Under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(4), a debt for “fraud or defalcation while acting in a fiduciary capacity ...” is not dischargeable. We agree with the district court 1 that the judgment in question, 147 B.R. 489, rendered in the context of an accounting on dissolution of a partnership, was quite plainly based on a finding that the debtor had committed a defalcation in the context of a fiduciary relationship. Indeed, the judgment says specifically that Speight “breached his fiduciary duty to Laughter.”

We agree, too, with the district court’s conclusion that the fifteen-page judgment of the state court contained all that was necessary to establish, under well-known principles of collateral estoppel, that the judgment debt was not dischargeable.

We therefore affirm the district court on the basis of its well-reasoned opinion below.

1

. The Honorable Jimm Lairy Hendren, United States District Judge for the Western District of Arkansas.

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16 F.3d 287, 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 2000, 1994 WL 33570, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-douglas-speight-debtor-joe-laughter-appellee-v-c-douglas-ca8-1994.

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