Kutscherousky v. West

12 Vet. App. 369, 1999 U.S. Vet. App. LEXIS 253, 1999 WL 262074
United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims·Decided May 4, 1999·No. No. 98-2267·Published·Cited by 2,048 cases

Opinion

ORDER

PER CURIAM:

This matter is before the Court post mandate. Because of the precedential significance of the issues raised, a panel has sua sponte been assigned to decide the pending motion.

On February 26, 1999, the Court granted the Secretary’s February 2, 1999, unopposed motion to vacate an August 31, 1998, Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board or BVA) decision in this case and to remand the matter, and issued its mandate pursuant to Rule 41(b) of the Court’s Rules of Practice and Procedure. The Secretary has filed an unopposed March 2,1999, motion for the Court to (1) vacate the Court’s order, (2) recall the Court’s mandate, and (3) permit him to amend his February 2, 1999, remand motion to add the following language:

On remand, appellant should be free to submit additional evidence and argument on the questions at issue. Quarles v. Derwinski 3 Vet.App. 129, 141 (1992). Additionally, it is noted that the holding in Hodge [ v. West, 155 F.3d 1356 (Fed.Cir.1998),] does not [a]ffect the presumption of credibility of the evidence in a determination of whether new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen a prior final disallowance. See Evans v. Brown, 9 Vet.App. 273 (1996); Justus v. Principi 3 Vet.App. 510, 513 (1992).

In Quarles, the Court stated that on remand “the appellant will be free to submit additional evidence and argument on the question at issue, and the Board will ‘seek any other evidence it feels is necessary’ to the timely resolution of this claim.” 3 Vet.App. at 141 (quoting Fletcher v. Derwinski 1 Vet.App. 394, 397 (1991)). The holdings in Quarles are binding precedent and must be followed unless overturned by this Court in an en banc decision, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit), by the Supreme Court, or by Congress through legislation. See Tobler v. Derwinski 2 Vet.App. 8, 11-12 (1991). In prior cases, the Secretary has cited to Memorandum No. 01-95-06, issued by the BVA Chairman on March 9, 1995, regarding the pro[371]*371cessing of appeals remanded by this Court. E.g., Kinner v. West, No. 96-893, 1998 WL 45533, at *1 (Vet.App. Jan. 21, 1999). In part 4.a. and b. of that Memorandum, the Chairman stated that when a claim is remanded by the Court, the appellant may, as a matter of right, submit additional argument but may submit additional evidence, as a matter of right, only “[i]f the Court’s remand permits the appellant to submit additional evidence”, and that, otherwise, “any additional evidence submitted by the appellant while the ease is at the Board will be governed by 38 C.F.R. § 20.1304.” That regulation entitles a claimant, as of right, to submit additional evidence to the BVA either during the 90-day period beginning on the date after mailing of notice to the claimant that an appeal has been certified and that the appellate record has been transferred to the Board or at a hearing on appeal that was requested during that 90-day period; and permits additional evidence to be submitted to the Board thereafter only if the appellant “demonstrates good cause for the delay”. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1304(a), (b) (1998); see also 38 C.F.R. §§ 19.36 (requiring that written notice be sent to appellant, and any representative, regarding § 20.1304(a) appellate-record certification and transfer and regarding 90-day period for, inter alia, submission of additional evidence), 19.37 (providing in subsection (a) for consideration of evidence submitted to agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) after appeal initiated but “prior to transfer of the records to the Board”, and providing in subsection (b) for consideration of evidence submitted to Board during 90-day period set forth in § 20.1304(a)) (1998). Without regard to whether the particular language from Quarles quoted above is such a holding or merely a term imposed by the Court for the carrying out of its mandate in a particular case, the Court has convened a panel to resolve this matter definitively now. See Bethea v. Derwinski, 2 Vet.App. 252, 254 (1992) (panel decisions constitute “binding precedent” unless overturned by en banc opinion of’this Court or decision of Federal Circuit or Supreme Court).

As to the Secretary’s concern regarding Hodge and Evans, both supra, the Court’s en banc opinions in Elkins v. West, 12 Vet.App. 209 (1999) (en banc), and Winters v. West, 12 Vet.App. 203 (1999) (en banc), construing Hodge, in no way suggested that the Court’s long-standing holding that the credibility of the new evidence is presumed for purposes of determining whether new -and material evidence has been presented, see Evans, 9 Vet.App. at 283, has been in any way altered by Hodge. Hence, that portion of Evans stands as binding precedent, and the Court need not restate that point in a remand order in order for it to apply on remand.

The Court’s power to recall a mandate “may be exercised only for good cause or to prevent injustice, and only when ‘unusual circumstances exist sufficient to justify modification or recall of a prior judgment.’ ” McNaron v. Brown, 10 Vet.App. 61, 63 (1997). The Court finds that, given the Secretary’s confession of error, the need for clarification of the matter in question, the appellant’s nonopposition to the Secretary’s motion (and because the motion is clearly in the best interests of the appellant), and the recency of the Court’s mandate, the Secretary has shown good cause and unusual circumstances to justify the recall of the Court’s mandate under the particular facts of this case. Cf. Simeon v. West, 11 Vet.App. 244 (1998) (per curiam order) (denying Secretary’s motion to recall mandate when to do so would be adverse to appellant and Secretary “failed to show good cause or special circumstances that would justify” such recall or that “failure to do so would result in injustice”). The Court will thus recall its mandate and revoke its February 26,1999, order.

As to the Secretary’s motion that is pending before the Court upon recall of the mandate, the Court will deny the motion to modify because it is unnecessary. The Court has already indicated above that clarification of Hodge and Evans, both supra, is not required and that the Court’s holding in Evans as to the credibility of the new evidence initially being presumed continues to be binding precedent.

Regarding the Secretary’s concern about the appellant’s right to submit additional evidence following remand from the Court, the BVA Chairman’s Memorandum [372]*37201-95-06 properly looks to 38 C.F.R. § 20.1304 in connection with the implementation of the remand mandate of the Court. See also 38 C.F.R. § 19.37. The Court notes that the Board currently mails postremand notice to an appellant regarding the submission of “additional evidence”. BVA Chairman Memorandum 01-95-06, part 4.b., 4.c.

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Kutscherousky v. West, 12 Vet. App. 369, 1999 U.S. Vet. App. LEXIS 253, 1999 WL 262074 (Cal. 1999).

12 Vet. App. 369 (Kutscherousky v. West) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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