Court Opinion

ID: 9364751
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-01-20 01:00:45.629124+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:15:40.081756
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-40172        Document: 00516616964             Page: 1      Date Filed: 01/19/2023

             United States Court of Appeals
                  for the Fifth Circuit
                                     ____________                     United States Court of Appeals
                                                                               Fifth Circuit

                                                                             FILED
                                      No. 22-40172
                                                                      January 19, 2023
                                    Summary Calendar
                                    ____________                        Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                             Clerk
   In the Matter of Feysal Ayati-Ghaffari

                                                                                        Debtor,

   Feysal Ayati-Ghaffari,

                                                                                    Appellant,

                                            versus

   JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A.; Carey D. Ebert,

                                                                                     Appellees.
                     ______________________________

                     Appeal from the United States District Court
                          for the Eastern District of Texas
                               USDC No. 4:21-CV-326
                     ______________________________

   Before Higginbotham, Duncan, and Wilson, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam:*
         Feysal Ayati-Ghaffari moves for leave to proceed in forma pauperis
   (IFP) in this appeal from the district court’s affirmance of rulings by the

         _____________________
         *
             This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-40172      Document: 00516616964          Page: 2    Date Filed: 01/19/2023

                                    No. 22-40172

   bankruptcy court on two motions and an objection to the trustee’s final
   report. The bankruptcy court based these rulings on the fact that Ayati-
   Ghaffari’s case had been dismissed and his bankruptcy estate no longer
   existed. The district court found that Ayati-Ghaffari’s arguments were
   barred by the doctrine of res judicata.
          By moving to proceed IFP, Ayati-Ghaffari challenges the district
   court’s certification that his appeal is not taken in good faith. See Baugh v.
   Taylor, 117 F.3d 197, 202 (5th Cir. 1997); 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3). Good faith
   is demonstrated when a party seeks review of a nonfrivolous issue, meaning
   one involving legal points that are arguable on the merits. Howard v. King,
   707 F.2d 215, 220 (5th Cir. 1983).
          Although we construe pro se filings liberally, even pro se litigants must
   brief arguments to preserve them. Yohey v. Collins, 985 F.2d 222, 225 (5th
   Cir. 1993). Ayati-Ghaffari has not briefed, and has therefore abandoned, any
   challenge to the substance of the rulings appealed. See id. at 224-25. He
   therefore fails to show a nonfrivolous issue, and the merits of this appeal are
   so intertwined with the certification decision as to constitute the same issue.
   Accordingly, Ayati-Ghaffari’s IFP motion is DENIED, and the appeal is
   DISMISSED as frivolous. See Baugh, 117 F.3d at 202 & n.24; 5th Cir.
   R. 42.2.

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