Armstrong v. Cadle Co.
Armstrong v. Cadle Co.
Opinion of the Court
ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO VACATE FINAL JUDGMENT PURSUANT TO RULE 60(b)(3) BASED UPON PERJURY OF PLAINTIFF
THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon Defendant’s Motion to Vacate Final Judgment Pursuant to Rule 60(b)(3) Based Upon Perjury of Plaintiff [DE 44]. The Court has carefully considered the Motion, Plaintiffs Response [DE 47] and Defendant’s Reply [DE 49], and is otherwise fully advised in the premises.
I. BACKGROUND
Plaintiff filed this action on March 10, 2005 alleging that Defendant violated 15 U.S.C. § 1692, et seq, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) and Fla. Stat. § 559, the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (“FCCPA”) while attempting to collect on a loan issued to Plaintiff. A trial was held on January 3-4, 2006 and the jury returned a verdict in favor of Plaintiff for $2,750, which included statutory damages of $1,000 for violation of the FDCPA and $1,000 for violation of the FCCPA, and $750 in emotional distress damages. On January 4, 2006, this Court entered final judgment in favor of Plaintiff in the amount of $2,750 plus interest [DE 31]. Thereafter, Plaintiff filed a Motion for Attorney’s Fees and Costs [DE 32] pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a)(3). Defendant did not file a response. On March 2, 2006, the Court awarded Plaintiff attorney’s fees and costs in the amount of $26,012.57 plus interest [DEs 35, 36].
On March 7, 2006, Defendant filed a motion seeking an extension of time in which to file its Motion to Vacate Final Judgment Pursuant to Rule 60(b)(3), or in the Alternative, Motion for New Trial Pursuant to Rule 59(a) Based Upon Perjury of Plaintiff. Defendant attached a copy of its proposed Motion [DE 38, Exh. A], Alternatively, Defendant requested an enlargement of time to file its Notice of Appeal. The Motion alleged
II. FEDERAL RULE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE 60(B) STANDARD
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) provides in relevant part:
On motion and upon such terms as are just, the court may relieve a party or a party’s legal representative from a final judgment, order, or proceeding for ... (3) fraud (whether heretofore denominated intrinsic or extrinsic), misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party---The motion shall be made with,in a reasonable time, and for reasons (1), (2), and (3) not more than one year after the judgment, order, or proceeding was entered or taken.
Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b) (emphasis added). To succeed on a motion filed pursuant to Rule 60(b)(3), the moving party must “ ‘establish by clear and convincing evidence (1) that the adverse party engaged in fraud or other misconduct and (2) that this misconduct prevented the moving party from fully and fairly presenting his case.’ ” Gen. Universal Sys., Inc. v. Lee, 379 F.3d 131, 156-57 (5th Cir. 2004) (quoting Montgomery v. Hall, 592 F.2d 278, 278-79 (5th Cir. 1979)). Misconduct may be established by proving that the opposing party willfully committed perjury. Id.
III. TIMELINESS OF MOTION
A. Communications Between Defendant’s Counsel and Court Reporter
The Court must first determine whether the instant Motion was filed within a reasonable time after the entry of final judgment. Defendant alleges that it waited eight months from the entry of final judgment to file the Motion because it had problems promptly obtaining the trial transcript. Plaintiff alleges that the Motion should be denied as untimely because Defendant’s lack of due diligence caused the delay in obtaining the transcript. Although the Court does not condone the negligent actions of Defendant’s counsel discussed below, it will nevertheless address the Motion on its merits because the delayed filing did not unduly prejudice Plaintiff. '
Defendant filed the instant Motion to Vacate Final Judgment Pursuant to Rule 60(b)(3) on September 22, 2006, over eight months after the entry of final judgment. Defendant states that the delay in filing relates to a problem with receiving the trial transcript from Anita LaRocca, Official Court Reporter to the undersigned. The following details the communications between Defendant’s counsel, Dale Golden, and Ms. La-Rocca.
On May 12, 2006, four months after sending the initial request, Mr. Golden’s paralegal sent Ms. LaRocca a generic letter requesting the transcript. The letter did not reference the previous request. When Ms. LaRocca received the letter, she called Mr. Golden’s office and informed his assistant that all requests must be signed by an attorney, not an assistant or paralegal. Thereafter, on May 25, 2006, an identical letter was sent requesting the transcript signed by one of Mr. Golden’s law partners. On June 7, 2006. Ms. LaRocca responded with a letter similar to the January 27 letter. The letter again provided an estimate of $825.00 and approximated completing the transcript within four weeks from the date payment was received. A check was sent on June 26, 2006 and was received by Ms. LaRoeca on July 11, 2006.
B. Analysis
A motion for relief pursuant to Rule 60 must be made within a reasonable time, and in any event, not more than one year after the entry of judgment. Fed. R.Civ.P. 60(b). Thus, the instant Motion is not timely merely because it was filed less than one year after the entry of judgment. White v. Am. Airlines, Inc., 915 F.2d 1414, 1425 (10th Cir. 1990). Rather, the Court must evaluate the facts in this case to determine whether the filing of Defendant’s Motion in September 2006 was reasonable. Lairsey v. Advance Abrasives Co., 542 F.2d 928, 930 (5th Cir. 1976).
In determining whether a Rule 60(b) motion was filed within a reasonable time after the entry of judgment, courts routinely look to whether the movant acted with due diligence. For example, in situations where the movant claims that it did not receive notice of the final judgment, courts look to whether the party attempted to obtain a copy of the final judgment including whether the movant periodically contacted the court to inquire as to the status of the case. L.Z. v. Parrish, 733 F.2d 585 (8th Cir. 1984) (motion not timely filed where plaintiffs counsel waited 77 days after order deciding adverse judgment to contact clerk regarding receipt of final judgment); Rodg
In this case, Mr. Golden failed to act diligently to obtain a transcript. He chose not to contact Ms. LaRocca nor to bring any concerns with obtaining the transcript to the Court’s attention in a timely manner. Mr. Golden knew to expect an estimate once Ms. LaRocca received a written transcript request. Ms. LaRocca specifically explained her procedure for collecting advanced payment to Ms. Leek in the initial phone message. Assuming that Mr. Golden did not, as he states, receive Ms. LaRocca’s January 27 letter, Mr. Golden had a duty to contact Ms. LaRocca to inquire as to the status of his transcript request. He does not provide evidence of any mitigating circumstances which prevented him from contacting Ms. LaRocca before waiting four months to submit a subsequent transcript request. Regardless, he chose to wait until May 2006, five months after the entry of final judgment and four months after mailing his initial request, to make reasonable efforts to obtain a copy of the trial transcript.
It is clear that it was Mr. Golden’s negligence which caused the delay in obtaining the transcript. The Court does not condone Mr. Golden’s failure to act with due diligence in protecting his client’s interests.
In addition, the Court does not find that the prejudice suffered by Plaintiff as a result of the delay warrants denying Defendant’s Motion as untimely. Plaintiff only contends that he was prejudiced by the eight month delay because he began collection proceedings. Plaintiffs counsel expended three hours of time locating the assets of Defendant, applied for and obtained judgment certificates and registered the final judgment
The time for filing the instant Motion was not unreasonable in light of Defendant’s proffered reason for delay. Further, the prejudice Plaintiff suffered because Defendant waited eight months since the entry of final judgment before filing the Rule 60 Motion is de minimus in relation to Defendant’s right to bring the allegations of perjury to the Court’s attention. The Court will therefore evaluate the merits of Defendant’s Motion.
IV. MERITS OF RULE 60(b)(3) MOTION
Defendant seeks relief pursuant to Rule 60(b)(3) arguing that Plaintiffs testimony during the January 3^4, 2006 trial before the undersigned directly contradicted statements made by Plaintiff in his deposition and answers to interrogatories in related state court cases. Defendant contends that it was severely prejudiced by this alleged perjury. Plaintiff argues that the testimony was generally consistent with the information previously provided and that any inconsistencies were immaterial, due to faulty memory and could have been clarified during cross-examination. The Court finds that Defendant has failed to meet its burden of establishing by clear and convincing evidence that Plaintiff engaged in fraud or other misconduct which prevented Defendant from fully and fairly presenting its case. As such, Defendant’s Motion shall be denied.
The theory of Plaintiffs case in this action was that Defendant violated the FDCPA and FCCPA by attempting to collect a time-barred debt from Plaintiff. Plaintiff argued that Defendant purchased the debt from the original creditor in 1999 and then intentionally waited until late 2004, when Defendant determined that Plaintiffs credit had improved, to collect on the debt. During trial, Plaintiff testified that he was first contacted by Defendant in December 2004 and that he had, to that point, not made any payments in satisfaction of his obligation. Defendant contends that this testimony directly contradicted the deposition testimony and answers to interrogatories provided by Plaintiff in two related state court actions brought by Defendant against Plaintiff to collect the debt, Case No. COCE-04-16750 in County Court, Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in and for Bro-ward County, Florida and Case No. CVF-05-00521 in Painesville Municipal Court, Lake County, Ohio. It is undisputed that the deposition testimony and answers to interrogatories were within Defendant’s possession or readily ascertainable at the time of trial in this case.
“Under Rule 60(b)(3), the movant must demonstrate that the adverse party engaged in fraud or other misconduct that prevented the movant from fully and fairly presenting its case.” First Nat’l Life Ins. Co. v. Cal. Pac. Life Ins. Co., 876 F.2d 877, 882-83 (11th Cir. 1989) (citing Harre v. A.H. Robins Co., 750 F.2d 1501, 1503 (11th Cir. 1985)). Defendant relies on Havre for the proposition that it was not required to expose the alleged perjury during cross-examination. 750 F.2d 1501, vacated on other grounds by 866 F.2d 1303 (11th Cir. 1989). Defendant’s reliance on Havre is misplaced as the facts of Havre are readily distinguishable from the facts currently before this Court.
Contrary to the facts in Havre, Defendant in this matter had a full and fair opportunity to present its case. A party cannot successfully bring a Rule 60(b)(3) motion where the “pursuit of the truth was [not] hampered by anything except [the movant’s] own reluctance to undertake an assiduous investigation.” Gov’t Fin. Servs. One Ltd. Partnership v. Peyton Place, Inc., 62 F.3d 767, 773 (5th Cir. 1995); see also Town House Dep’t Stores, Inc. v. Ahn, Case No. CVA01018, 2003 WL 881004, at *15 (Guam Terr. Mar.7, 2003) (affirmed denial of Rule 60(b) motion where alleged fraud was within defendant’s possession or readily ascertainable before trial and thus could have been brought out during cross-examination). Defendant was fully aware of Plaintiffs answers to interrogatories and deposition testimony in the related state court cases prior to trial. As such, Defendant knew that the answers provided during direct examination were inconsistent with the previous information. A challenge to Plaintiffs credibility on important issues in the case may have provided Defendant with an advantage in the matter. Defendant’s counsel nevertheless affirmatively elected not to attack Plaintiffs credibility nor to allow Plaintiff an opportunity to explain the inconsistency. Defendant’s counsel asked certain questions to clarify when the initial contact occurred, but never referenced the inconsistent information in the other proceedings. Defendant has thus failed to establish that the alleged perjury denied it a full and fair opportunity to try its case. Unlike Havre, any inconsistencies in this matter could have been addressed during cross-examination.
Defendant has also failed to establish by clear and convincing evidence that the inconsistencies were actually attempts to engage in fraud or misconduct. As stated by Plaintiff, a review of Plaintiffs deposition transcript in its entirety indicates that the alleged inconsistencies may have been nothing more than a result of nervousness or faulty memory. Even during Plaintiffs deposition, he provided different answers when asked the year in which he first spoke to the Cadle Company. This leads the Court to believe that Plaintiff did not intentionally defraud the Court when testifying about his contact with Defendant. Therefore, Defendant has failed to meet its burden to succeed on the instant Rule 60(b)(3) motion.
V. CONCLUSION
Based on the foregoing, it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Defendant’s Motion to Vacate Final Judgment Pursuant to Rule 60(b)(3) Based Upon Perjury of Plaintiff [DE 44] is DENIED.
. The information contained herein regarding the communications between Defendant’s counsel and Ms. LaRocca was outlined in Plaintiff's Response and Defendant's Reply [DE 47, Exh. A; DE 49]. The parties do not dispute the dates or contents of the communications between Mr. Golden and his assistants, and Ms. LaRocca. Plaintiff's counsel obtained information regarding the communications via conversations with Ms. LaRocca.
. As stated in her June 7 letter, Ms. LaRocca was on annual leave from June 16 to July 10, 2006. Therefore, the payment sent on June 26 was not recorded by Ms. LaRocca until July 11.
. The decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, as that court existed on September 30, 1981, handed down by that court prior to the close of business on that date, shall be binding as precedent in the Eleventh Circuit, for this court, the district courts, and the bankruptcy courts in the Circuit. Bonner v. Prich-ard, 661 F.2d 1206, 1207 (11th Cir. 1981) (en banc).
. A review of the history of this case indicates that this is not the first instance where Mr. Golden’s negligence has been at issue. As noted in this Order, Mr. Golden also failed to timely file a Rule 59 Motion or a Notice of Appeal because he had problems with the Court's electronic filing system and failed to confirm that the Rule 59 Motion was properly received by the Court.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Steven ARMSTRONG, an Individual v. THE CADLE COMPANY, an Ohio corporation, as general partner of Dan Joint Venture III, L.P., an Ohio limited partnership
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published