Greenway, Matter of
| Decision Date | 10 January 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. 95-50309,95-50309 |
| Parties | , Bankr. L. Rep. P 76,753 In the Matter of John W. GREENWAY, Debtor. Joanne Brito BOYCE; Eric Boyce; John Sommerfield; Terry Rock; Kay Rock, For Representatives of the Estate of Debbie Rock, Appellees Cross-Appellants, v. John W. GREENWAY, Appellant Cross-Appellee. Summary Calendar. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Paul E. Knisely, Broadus A. Spivey, Spivey, Grigg, Kelly & Knisely, Austin, TX, for Joanne Brito Boyce, Eric Boyce, John Sommerfield, Terry Rock and Kay Rock.
Karl Orrin Bayer, Jr., Austin, TX, for Eric Boyce and John Sommerfield.
Conde Thompson Cox, Cox and Rodnick, Austin, TX, for John W. Greenway.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.
Before HIGGINBOTHAM, DUHE and EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judges.
Defendant John W. Greenway appeals the district court's partial reversal of the bankruptcy court's order granting Greenway's motion for summary judgment. Plaintiffs Joanne Brito Boyce, Eric Boyce, John Sommerfield, Terry Rock, Kay Rock, and the Estate of Debbie Rock cross-appeal the district court's partial affirmance of the bankruptcy court's order granting Greenway's motion for summary judgment. We reverse in part, affirm in part, and render judgment.
A motorboat, operated by John Greenway, crashed into Plaintiffs' vessel, causing a fatality and various injuries. The accident occurred on a lake at night. Greenway had been drinking. Plaintiffs sued in state court, and a jury, finding that Greenway was sixty percent responsible for the accident, awarded the Plaintiffs damages proportional to Greenway's fault. 1 Unable to pay the judgment Greenway sought protection under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code. The Plaintiffs commenced this adversary proceeding in the bankruptcy court to block the discharge of Greenway's debt. The Bankruptcy Code does not allow the discharge of debts arising from, among other things, willful and malicious injuries, 2 or from death or personal injuries caused by the operation of a "motor vehicle" if that operation was unlawful due to the debtor's intoxication. 3 The Plaintiffs argued that these two provisions barred the discharge of Greenway's debt. The bankruptcy court disagreed. Because the jury in Greenway's state trial had rejected liability for gross negligence, the bankruptcy court found the Plaintiffs collaterally estopped from litigating whether Greenway's actions were willful or malicious under 11 U.S.C. Sec. 523(a)(6). The bankruptcy court further found that the plain meaning of the term "motor vehicle," in 11 U.S.C. Sec. 523(a)(9), did not include motorboats, and held Sec. 523(a)(9) inapplicable to Greenway's case. The bankruptcy court thus granted Greenway's motion for summary judgment. On appeal, the district court affirmed the bankruptcy court's finding that the Plaintiffs were collaterally estopped from litigating whether Greenway's actions had been willful and malicious, but reversed the bankruptcy court's interpretation of the term "motor vehicle," reading the term to include motorboats. The district court then remanded the case to the bankruptcy court for trial on whether Greenway was intoxicated, within the meaning of Sec. 523(a)(9) of the Bankruptcy Code, when the accident occurred. 4 Both Plaintiffs and Greenway filed timely notices of appeal.
The Bankruptcy Code allows a debtor to discharge all debts incurred prior to filing for bankruptcy, subject to certain exceptions. 11 U.S.C. Sec. 727(b); Citizens Bank & Trust Co. v. Case (In re Case), 937 F.2d 1014, 1024 (5th Cir.1991). Greenway appeals the district court's reading of the exception contained in Sec. 523(a)(9) of the Bankruptcy Code involving the intoxicated operation of a "motor vehicle." We review a district court's interpretation of the Bankruptcy Code de novo. Bruner v. United States (In re Bruner), 55 F.3d 195, 197 (5th Cir.1995).
As with any statutory question, we begin with the language of the statute. Kellogg v. United States (In re West Texas Marketing Corp.), 54 F.3d 1194, 1200 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 523, 133 L.Ed.2d 430 (1995). In determining a statute's plain meaning, we assume that, absent any contrary definition, "Congress intends the words in its enactments to carry their ordinary, contemporary, common meaning." Pioneer Investment Services v. Brunswick Associates, 507 U.S. 380, ----, 113 S.Ct. 1489, 1495, 123 L.Ed.2d 74 (1993) (internal quotation marks omitted). As the Supreme Court has stated: "There is, of course, no more persuasive evidence of the purpose of a statute than the words by which the legislature undertook to give expression to its wishes." Griffin v. Oceanic Contractors, Inc., 458 U.S. 564, 571, 102 S.Ct. 3245, 3250, 73 L.Ed.2d 973 (1982) (internal quotation marks omitted). If the language is clear, then "the inquiry should end." United States v. Ron Pair Enterprises, 489 U.S. 235, 241, 109 S.Ct. 1026, 1030, 103 L.Ed.2d 290 (1989).
The terms "motorboat" or "water craft" do not appear in Sec. 523(a)(9) of the Bankruptcy Code. Nor does the Bankruptcy Code expressly define the term "motor vehicle." Therefore, we must determine if the plain or common meaning of the term "motor vehicle," as used in Sec. 523(a)(9), includes motorboats. 5 5] Only if the term is ambiguous will we proceed beyond the language as written. Ron Pair Enterprises, Inc., 489 U.S. at 241, 109 S.Ct. at 1030. The dictionary defines "motor vehicle" as "an automotive vehicle not operated on rails; esp: one with rubber tires for use on highways." WEBSTER'S NINTH NEW COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY 775 (1986); see also RANDOM HOUSE COLLEGE DICTIONARY 871 (revised ed. 1980) (defining "motor vehicle" as "any transportation vehicle designed for use on highways, as an automobile, bus, or truck"). Additionally, Congress has used "motor vehicle" to refer exclusively to automobiles in other statutes. For example, Chapter 301 of the Transportation Code defines "motor vehicle" as "any vehicle driven or drawn by mechanical power manufactured primarily for use on the public streets, roads and highways, but does not include a vehicle operated only on a rail line." 49 U.S.C. Sec. 30102(a)(6). 6
The above definitions comport with our understanding that the plain and common meaning of the term "motor vehicle" does not include motorboats. Had Congress intended to include motorboats within Sec. 523(a)(9), they would have either defined the term "motor vehicle" to include motorboats or added motorboats to the exception. It is not the job of the courts to legislate, and the Supreme Court has counseled that where the statutory language is plain, "the sole function of the court is to enforce it according to its terms." Ron Pair Enterprises, Inc., 489 U.S. at 241, 109 S.Ct. at 1030 (internal quotation marks omitted). The district court erred in reading the term "motor vehicle" in Sec. 523(a)(9) of the Bankruptcy Code to include motorboats. 7 See Willison v. Race (In re Race), 159 B.R. 857, 860-61 (Bankr.W.D.Mo.1993) (). Accordingly, we hold that Sec. 523(a)(9) does not encompass motorboats, and therefore does not bar the discharge of Greenway's debt. 8
Plaintiffs argue that the district court erred in upholding the bankruptcy court's ruling that Plaintiffs were collaterally estopped from litigating whether Greenway's actions were willful and malicious under Sec. 523(a)(6) of the Bankruptcy Code, a finding which would disallow the discharge of Greenway's debt. The preclusive effect of a state court judgment is a question of law that we review de novo. Garner v. Lehrer (In re Garner), 56 F.3d 677, 679 (5th Cir.1995). A state court judgment's preclusive effect on a subsequent federal action is determined by the full faith and credit statute, which provides that state proceedings "shall have the same full faith and credit in every court within the United States ... as they have by law or usage in the courts of such State ... from which they are taken." 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1738; Marrese v. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 470 U.S. 373, 380, 105 S.Ct. 1327, 1331-32, 84 L.Ed.2d 274 (1985). Under this statute, we must look to the rules of preclusion of the state in which the judgment was rendered in order to determine the judgment's preclusive effects. Marrese, 470 U.S. at 380, 105 S.Ct. at 1332. Because Greenway's state judgment was entered by a Texas court, we apply Texas preclusion rules. Garner, 56 F.3d at 679.
Under Texas law, "collateral estoppel bars relitigation of any ultimate issue of fact actually litigated and essential to the judgment in a prior suit." Bonniwell v. Beech Aircraft Corp., 663 S.W.2d 816, 818 (Tex.1984); see also Barr v. Resolution Trust Corp., 837 S.W.2d 627, 628 (Tex.1992) (). To determine whether this standard has been met, "a party must establish that (1) the facts sought to be litigated in the second action were fully and fairly litigated in the prior action, (2) those facts were essential to the judgment in the first case, and (3) the parties were cast as adversaries in the first action." Bonniwell, 663 S.W.2d at 818; see also Amica Mutual Insurance Co. v. Moak, 55 F.3d 1093, 1097 (5th Cir.1995) (quoting Bonniwell, 663 S.W.2d at 818). The Plaintiffs were adverse to Greenway in the state trial, and do not dispute that gross negligence was adequately litigated. Nor do the Plaintiffs dispute that the facts sought to be litigated in the bankruptcy court were essential to the judgment in the state trial. Therefore, we must determine whether the jury's refusal to find gross negligence in the state trial necessarily determined that Greenway's conduct was not "willful and...
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