Case Name: In the MATTER OF: Marc Lee BASS, Debtor, Beacon Talent Agency, Inc., aka Marc Bass Agency, Inc., Appellant, v. Marc Lee Bass, Appellee
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2016-06-17
Citations: 653 Fed.App'x 494
Docket Number: No. 14-56247
Parties: In the MATTER OF: Marc Lee BASS, Debtor, Beacon Talent Agency, Inc., aka Marc Bass Agency, Inc., Appellant, v. Marc Lee Bass, Appellee.
Judges: Before: GOULD and HURWITZ, Circuit Judges, and RESTANI, Judge.
Reporter: West's Bankruptcy Reporter
Volume: 559
Pages: 494–496

Head Matter:
In the MATTER OF: Marc Lee BASS, Debtor, Beacon Talent Agency, Inc., aka Marc Bass Agency, Inc., Appellant, v. Marc Lee Bass, Appellee.
No. 14-56247
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.
Argued and Submitted June 10, 2016 Pasadena, California
FILED June 17, 2016
Geoffrey Crisp, Attorney, Steven M. Garber, Esquire, Steven M. Garber & As-sociates A.P.C., Los Angeles, CA for Ap-pellant.
Donna Rebecca Dishbak, Dishbak Law Firm, Tarzana, CA, M. Jonathan Hayes, Attorney, Simon Resnik Hayes LLP, Sher-man Oaks, CA, for Appellee.
Before: GOULD and HURWITZ, Circuit Judges, and RESTANI, Judge.
The Honorable Jane A. Restani, Judge for the United States Court of International Trade, sitting by designation.

Opinion:
MEMORANDUM
At issue' in this case is a bankruptcy court's order granting summary judgment to Beacon Talent Agency ("Beacon"), hold-ing that Beacon has a non-dischargeable claim against a Chapter 7 debtor, Marc Lee Bass ("Bass"), based on a California state court judgment. On appeal, the dis-trict court reversed and remanded.
We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 to review the district court's decision. We review that decision de novo; the bankruptcy court's findings of fact are re-viewed for clear error and its conclusions of law are reviewed de novo. Harmon v. Kobrin (In re Harmon), 250 F.3d 1240, 1245 (9th Cir. 2001). In reviewing the sum-mary judgment, we determine, "viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, whether there are any genuine issues of material fact and whether the bankruptcy court correctly applied the substantive law." Id.
"[Fjederal courts . give preclu-sive effect to state-court judgments when ever the courts of the State from which the judgments emerged would do so." Kremer v. Chem. Constr. Corp., 456 U.S. 461, 482, 102 S.Ct. 1883, 72 L.Ed.2d 262 (1982) (quoting Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 96, 101 S.Ct. 411, 66 L.Ed.2d 808 (1980)). California does not give preclusive effect to judgments awarded in excess of the relief properly requested, including untimely noticed punitive damages awards. See Greenup v. Rodman, 42 Cal.3d 822, 231 Cal.Rptr. 220, 726 P.2d 1295, 1297 (1986) (In Bank); Moffat v. Moffat, 27 Cal.3d 645, 165 Cal. Rptr. 877, 612 P.2d 967, 972 (1980) (In Bank); Burtnett v. King, 33 Cal.2d 805, 205 P.2d 657, 658-59 (1949); see also Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 425.11, 580, 585. The district court thus properly refused to- give preclusive effect to the punitive damages award in the state court judgment. See Matera v. McLeod, 145 Cal.App.4th 44, 51 Cal.Rptr.3d 331, 343-45 (2006).
Without the punitive damages award, the default judgment did not satisfy the requirements for non-dischargeability under either 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(4) or (a)(6). Under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(4), Beacon did not establish that Bass was acting in a fiduciary capacity, see Cal-Micro, Inc. v. Cantrell (In re Cantrell), 329 F.3d 1119, 1125-26, 1128 (9th Cir. 2003), or that he acted with the requisite intent for purposes of embezzlement, compare Transamerica Commercial Fin. Corp. v. Littleton (In re Littleton), 942 F.2d 551, 555-56 (9th Cir. 1991) (holding that embezzlement requires fraudulent intent), with Burlesci v. Petersen, 68 Cal.App.4th 1062, 80 Cal. Rptr.2d 704, 706 (1998) (holding that in California, conversion does not require intent to defraud). Additionally, under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(6), Beacon did not establish a willful and malicious injury. See Peklar v. Ikerd (In re Peklar), 260 F.3d 1035,1039 (9th Cir. 2001) ("A judgment for conversion under California law . does not, without more, establish that a debt arising out of that judgment is non-dis-chargeable under § 523(a)(6).").
AFFIRMED.
This disposition is not appropriate for publi-cation and is not precedent except as provid-ed by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.