Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-akb-3_06-ap-90055/USCOURTS-akb-3_06-ap-90055-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
John M. Mosby
Plaintiff
Mitchell B. Radney
Defendant

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A copy of the judgment of the California bankruptcy court is attached to the complaint as an exhibit. 

The judgment of the state court is not part of the present record, but is identified by case number.

Page 1 of 3

JUDGE HERB ROSS (Recalled)

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF ALASKA

605 West 4th Avenue, Room 138, Anchorage, AK 99501-2296 - (Website: www.akb.uscourts.gov) Clerk’s Office 907-271-2655 (1-800-859-8059 In-State) - Judge’s Fax 907-271-2692

Case No. A06-00304-HAR

In re MITCHELL B. RADNEY,

Debtor(s)

In Chapter 7

JOHN M. MOSBY,

Plaintiff(s)

 v.

MITCHELL B. RADNEY,

Defendant(s)

Adv Proc No A06-90055-HAR MEMORANDUM REGARDING INTENT

TO ENTER SUMMARY JUDGMENT FOR

PLAINTIFF AND OPPORTUNITY TO

OBJECT

John Mosby filed this adversary proceeding, seeking a declaration that a 1987 judgment of

nondischargeability from the bankruptcy court in the Central District of California is

nondischargeable in this Alaska bankruptcy filed 19 years later. The 1987 California

nondischargeability judgment was entered by default and held that a judgment entered in favor of

Mosby and against Radney in the Superior Court for Santa Barbara County in the State of

California was nondischargeable.1

 

The basis for holding the California state court judgment nondischargeable is not stated in

the bankruptcy court’s judgment. In the current Alaska nondischargeability proceeding, Mosby

Filed On

12/22/06

Case 06-90055 Filed 12/22/06 Entered 12/22/06 15:29:54 Doc# 8 Page 1 of 3	
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Schedule F, Dkt 1.

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Statement of Affairs, Question 4, Dkt 1.

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In re Moncur, 328 BR 183, 186-91 (9th Cir BAP 2005).

MEMORANDUM REGARDING INTENT TO ENTER SUMMARY 

JUDGMENT FOR PLAINTIFF AND OPPORTUNITY TO OBJECT Page 2 of 3

seeks to have debtor’s obligation to him held to be nondischargeable under three sections, 11 USC

§§ 523(a)(2)(A), (4), and (6)

In the Alaska bankruptcy case, the debtor lists John Mosby as a general unsecured creditor

for $700,000 for a “1987 Judgment Real Estate Matter.” The claim is not listed as contingent,

disputed or unliquidated.2

 Several addresses are listed for Mosby in the schedule, one of which is

the same address Mosby uses in the adversary complaint that he filed pro per. Radney also

disclosed a Santa Barbara Superior Court suit, “Mosby v Radney,” although it is listed as

“Pending.”3

 Radney admits in his answer that a judgment of nondischargeability was entered in

“an earlier bankruptcy,” but weasels on whether the copy of the 1987 nondischargeability

judgment was accurate.

Nonetheless, it was not incumbent upon Mosby to file this Alaska adversary to preserve his

prior bankruptcy court judgment of nondischargeability. There are sufficient facts in the present

record for the court to grant summary judgment that, to the extent Mosby was granted a

judgment of nondischargeability against the debt Radney owes him, Mosby does not have to file a

second nondischargeability proceeding the Alaska bankruptcy case to preserve the effect of the

earlier nondischargeability judgment. The 9th Circuit BAP, in In re Moncur,

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 held that a

judgment of nondischargeability that was entered in one bankruptcy case remained enforceable in

face of discharge of the same debtors in a subsequent Chapter 7 case, without need for the creditor

to file another nondischargeability proceeding in the second case.

There is sufficient undisputed evidence in the record to determine that Judge Naugle’s

judgment in 1987 need not be relitigated in this Alaska bankruptcy 19 years later to retain its

force. I do not have to rule on the amount of Mosby’s claim; I do not have to declare it is

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MEMORANDUM REGARDING INTENT TO ENTER SUMMARY 

JUDGMENT FOR PLAINTIFF AND OPPORTUNITY TO OBJECT Page 3 of 3

$700,000, or more or less, to give Mosby relief. Whatever the California judgment is, it is. Nor do

I have to identify the particular section of 11 USC § 523 on which to base my summary judgment. 

On whatever basis Judge Naugle denied nondischargeability, that basis rides through without this

court having to dwell on it. 

There may be nonbankruptcy reasons that debtor can defend against Mosby’s claim, such

as possible staleness of the California state court judgment, but it is not necessary for me to

determine that issue as a condition precedent to giving the Mosby the basic relief he is seeking –

that his 1987 debt remains nondischargeable.

I have chosen this route to resolve this dispute because plaintiff is pro per and debtor’s

attorney is recuperating from heart surgery. I am seeking a simple, inexpensive resolution, but

allowing sufficient time for debtor to point out any mistakes in my thinking which would merit a

fuller exploration of the facts and law. Debtor will have until Friday, February 9, 2007, to file an

objection to entry of summary judgment as outlined in the order being entered concurrently.

 DATED: December 22, 2006

 /s/ Herb Ross 

 HERB ROSS

 U.S. Bankruptcy Judge

Serve:

John M. Mosby, Pro Per π

Chris Johansen, Esq., for Δ

Cheryl Rapp, Clerk 

Peggy Gingras, Adv. Proc. Mgr.

 12/22/06 D6135

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