Admiral Insurance Co v. Murphy
Admiral Insurance Co v. Murphy
Opinion
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 00-10141 Summary Calendar
ADMIRAL INSURANCE COMPANY,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
DON MURPHY,
Defendant-Appellant.
_______________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas (4:99-CV-528-BE) _______________________________ August 21, 2000
Before JOLLY, JONES and BENAVIDES, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Appellant Don Murphy (“Murphy”) appeals from the district
court’s ruling reviving and renewing a 1989 default judgment in
favor of appellee Admiral Insurance Company (“Admiral”) obtained
in the District of Arizona and registered pursuant to
28 U.S.C. § 1963in the Northern District of Texas. During the pendency of
this appeal, in an order dated June 5, 2000, the district court
in Arizona vacated the 1989 default judgment for the reason that
* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the Court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. it had lacked personal jurisdiction over Murphy at the time it
entered the default judgment. Murphy filed a motion pursuant to
Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 28(j) to give this court
notice of the district of Arizona’s order. Admiral filed no
objection to this supplemental authority, nor did it indicate
that the Arizona order was infirm, invalid, or incorrect.
The Arizona order voiding the default judgment has obvious
ramifications for the Texas enforcement action. Texas Civil
Practice & Remedies Code § 16.066(a) states: “An action on a
foreign judgment is barred in this state if the action is barred
under the laws of the jurisdiction where rendered.” The validity
of the underlying Arizona judgment is therefore paramount to the
question of whether the judgment can be revived or renewed in
Texas, where Admiral registered it. For that reason, we vacate
the judgment of the district court of the Northern District of
Texas reviving and renewing the default judgment, and we remand
for reconsideration of whether the judgment can be revived or
renewed under Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 31.006.
VACATED and REMANDED.
2
Reference
- Status
- Unpublished