Opinions
All court opinions may be accessed at no charge via PACER through the "Written Opinions" link on the Reports page. You must, however, have an account to access the report via CM/ECF or PACER.
Access to opinions from 1997 to present, that are PDF searchable, unrestricted & unsealed, are also available through the Government Printing Office using the Advanced Search for Government Publications. There is no login required and publications are available free of charge.
Court Opinions Database
The court's provides free access of some opinions, at the discretion of the judges, for the years 1998 to present. The results shown below are automatically displayed for all years, all judges, and all keywords/topics.
A search may be performed using the Search box above, or filtering by year, judge, and/or keyword/topic. To search for more than one judge and/or keywords/topics simultaneously, hold down the Ctrl key (or Command key) and select each item.
| Keywords/Topic | Date | Title | Description | Judge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adversary, Contract Interpretation, Nondischargeability | 08/30/2019 | Vanessa K. Baca v. Mark Aragon |
Defendant Debtor sold a house to Plaintiff under false pretenses and/or false representations when he led Plaintiff to believe he could sell her the house unencumbered. Because Defendant’s impermissible actions made it impossible for Defendant to sell the house to Plaintiff free of the mortgage, the Defendant’s debt to Plaintiff is nondischargable in an amount to be determined in state court proceedings. |
Judge David T. Thuma | |
| Miscellaneous | 08/08/2019 | Clark C. Coll v. Carla Franco et al |
Defendant filed motions to strike the answers to her quiet title counterclaim and third-party claim on the grounds that the answers were filed late. The Court concluded that the motions were not well taken and denied them.
|
Judge David T. Thuma | |
| Extension of Time, Service | 07/31/2019 | Yvette J. Gonzales, Chapter 7 Trustee of the Quick Cash, Inc., Bankruptcy Estate v. Timothy Delgago, et al |
The court determined on the parties’ joint motion for summary judgment based on stipulated facts that debtor’s former spouse’s claim arising from a state court judgment awarding her a judgment in the event she paid debtor’s share of guardian ad litem fees debtor was ordered to pay in connection with the parties’ dissolution of marriage proceeding constituted a domestic support obligation (“DSO”) under § 101(14A), entitled to priority under § 507(a)(1)(B). However, portion former spouse paid to GAL based on court-imposed sanction against debtor was not in the nature of support; consequently it was not entitled to priority status as a DSO.
|
Chief Judge Robert H. Jacobvitz | |
| Motion to Sell, Professionals, Professionals - Conflict of Interest | 07/31/2019 | Roy Mitchell Waggoner and Jewell Kay Waggoner |
Trustee filed motion for proposed sale of Debtors’ house. The proposed sale included a “finder’s fee” to Rebecca Heizer, who is not a licensed real estate agent in any jurisdiction. Nor was Ms. Heizer employed by the estate. The Court ruled that the proposed sale was beneficial to the estate. However, the Court disallowed any payment of a finder’s fee as it was contrary to New Mexican law and Ms. Heizer was not employed by the estate.
|
Judge David T. Thuma | |
| Abstention, Remand | 07/31/2019 | Matthew Kitts v. Cashco Inc., a New Mexico Corporation, et al |
The Court abstained and remanded an adversary proceeding to state court. In exercising its discretion to permissively abstain from hearing a class action adversary proceeding with non-debtor parties that was removed from state court the Court placed weight on (a) the claims are governed wholly by state law and require resolution of unsettled issues of state law; (b) the plaintiff demanded a jury trial; (c) the debtor defendants’ decision to remove the proceeding to bankruptcy court was motivated in part by forum shopping; and (d) remand will not adversely affect the administration of the Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases. |
Chief Judge Robert H. Jacobvitz | |
| Motion to Sell, Standing | 07/26/2019 | Sandia Tobacco Manufacturers, Inc. |
Creditor with a colorable claim to the res debtor sought to sell had standing to object to the sale; creditor of that creditor lacked standing to object to the sale motion. A party must establish that property is property of the estate as a prerequisite to a request to sell that property free of interests under 363(f). |
Chief Judge Robert H. Jacobvitz | |
| Adversary, Adversary Proceedings - Procedural Matters, Default Judgment, Reconsideration, Standing | 07/24/2019 | CA Silverman |
Trustee filed motion for “turnover” requiring Debtor to cooperate in marketing and sale of Debtor’s house. Debtor objected, moving to vacated the default judgment in the adversary proceeding against her ex-boyfriend on which the turnover motion was based. Parties stipulated to a ruling on the motions for the preliminary issues of whether the Debtor should have been named in the adversary proceeding and whether the default judgment should be set aside. The Court ruled the Debtor should not have been named, the default judgment would not be set aside, and Debtor did not have standing to object to the adversary proceeding default judgment under F.R.C.P. 60(b).
|
Judge David T. Thuma | |
| Avoidance Actions, Fraudulent Transfers | 07/19/2019 | Clark C. Coll, Trustee v. Stephen Blanco et al |
The chapter 7 trustee sued defendant to avoid alleged fraudulent transfers in the form of checks and cash withdrawals. Defendant presented a defense that the payments were for salary, rent, and other legitimate business expenses. The Court found and concluded that only a portion of the transfers could be avoided for the benefit of the estate. |
Judge David T. Thuma | |
| Discharge, Nondischargeability | 06/26/2019 | Susan Pillarella-Bryant et al v. Joseph Bryant et al |
Defendant was accused of breach of trust. Plaintiff moved for a finding of nondischargeability of a domesticated judgment under §523 and a denial of discharge under §727. The Court ruled that the Defendant’s debt was nondischargeable under §523(a)(4) and §523(a)(6). Discharge was not denied under §727.dischar |
Judge David T. Thuma | |
| Injunctions | 06/19/2019 | Robert Marcus v. Las Uvas Valley Dairies et al |
Plaintiff, who was the liquidating trustee of the bankruptcy estate, sought to enjoin individual defendants from dealing freely with their property pending entry of a final judgment. The Court found that pre-judgment relief could not be granted by the Court where Plaintiff’s claims were legal rather than equitable and denied Plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction.
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Judge David T. Thuma |