Jendusa-Nicolai v. Larsen

Summarized by John Eggum , Foran Glennon Palandech Ponzi & Rudloff
13 years 10 months ago

Citation:

No. 11-1256; 2012 WL 1324245

Tag(s):

Ruling:

Willful and malicious injury determination and finding of nondischargeability affirmed in case involving a brutal attack on the Debtor’s ex-wife (an attack which resulted in a life sentence for attempted murder). The Seventh Circuit, considering section 523(a)(6) for the first time since the Supreme Court’s Kawaauhau v. Geiger case, found that a “willful and malicious injury” is one that “the injurer inflicted knowing he had no legal justification and either desiring to inflict the injury or knowing it was highly likely to result from his act.” In evaluating the meaning of the operative terms of 523(a)(6), the court reviewed the various permutations of “willful and malicious” that are used among the Circuits, noting that each Circuit seems to have its own formulation and makes little effort to reconcile its definition and interpretation with that of its sister Circuits. The court arrived at the previously-stated definition after citing what it saw as technical deficiencies in the language employed by the other courts, while noting that the differing legal definitions would probably not result in differing outcomes. This opinion also highlights that punitive damages and derivative claims such as loss of consortium are nondischargeable when they “derive” from the willful and malicious injury (as they did in the present situation).

Procedural context:

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, which had affirmed a finding of nondischargeability made by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

Facts:

David Larsen, the Debtor, attempted to murder his ex-wife, Teri Jendusa–Nicolai, and was sentenced to life in prison. The Debtor had beaten Ms. Jendusa-Nicolai with a baseball bat and sealed her in a garbage can filled with snow, which was located in an unheated storage facility. The Debtor’s ex-wife suffered a miscarriage from the beating, and the frostbite that Ms. Jendusa-Nicolai incurred as a result of the time in the garbage can resulted in the amputation of all of her toes. The Debtor sought to discharge the $3.4 million judgment that was entered against him on account of these acts.

Judge(s):

Easterbrook, Posner, and Sykes.

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