Hagele, Jr. v. Burch (In re Hagele, Jr.)

Summarized by Laura Coordes , Arizona State University, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law
9 years 7 months ago

Citation:

Hagele, Jr. v. Burch (In re Hagele, Jr.), Case No. EC-15-1033-JuDTa (9th Cir. BAP, Jul. 18, 2016) (unpublished)

Tag(s):

Ruling:

Bankruptcy court judgment, holding that state court prepetition judgment entered in favor of creditor and against debtor for defamation and unfair trade practices established "willful and malicious injury," such that the debt was nonndischargeable under § 523(a)(6), affirmed.

Procedural context:

Appeal from the bankruptcy court of the Eastern District of California holding debt nondischargeable under § 523(a)(6), reviewed de novo.

Facts:

In a prepetition state court action, debtor was found to have published defamatory statements against creditor. Creditor subsequently filed an adversary proceeding seeking to except the state court judgment from discharge in debtor's chapter 7 case. The bankruptcy court found the debt nondischargeable under § 523(a)(6), and the BAP affirmed.

Judge(s):

Jury, Dunn, and Taylor

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