Filed: Jan. 09, 2020
Latest Update: Mar. 03, 2020
Summary: Case: 19-60265 Document: 00515265462 Page: 1 Date Filed: 01/09/2020 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED January 9, 2020 No. 19-60265 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk In the Matter of: STEPHEN PAUL SMITH, JESSICA NICHOLE SMITH, Debtors STEPHEN PAUL SMITH; JESSICA NICHOLE SMITH, also known as Jessica Nichole Miles, also known as Jessica Nichole Burk, Appellants v. MID-SOUTH MAINTENANCE, INCORPORATED, AN OKLAHOMA CORPORATION; MID-SOUTH M
Summary: Case: 19-60265 Document: 00515265462 Page: 1 Date Filed: 01/09/2020 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED January 9, 2020 No. 19-60265 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk In the Matter of: STEPHEN PAUL SMITH, JESSICA NICHOLE SMITH, Debtors STEPHEN PAUL SMITH; JESSICA NICHOLE SMITH, also known as Jessica Nichole Miles, also known as Jessica Nichole Burk, Appellants v. MID-SOUTH MAINTENANCE, INCORPORATED, AN OKLAHOMA CORPORATION; MID-SOUTH MA..
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Case: 19-60265 Document: 00515265462 Page: 1 Date Filed: 01/09/2020
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
FILED
January 9, 2020
No. 19-60265
Lyle W. Cayce
Clerk
In the Matter of: STEPHEN PAUL SMITH, JESSICA NICHOLE SMITH,
Debtors
STEPHEN PAUL SMITH; JESSICA NICHOLE SMITH, also known as
Jessica Nichole Miles, also known as Jessica Nichole Burk,
Appellants
v.
MID-SOUTH MAINTENANCE, INCORPORATED, AN OKLAHOMA
CORPORATION; MID-SOUTH MAINTENANCE, INCORPORATED,
MEMPHIS, A TENNESSEE CORPORATION; WORLDWIDE STEEL
WORKS, INCORPORATED, AN OKLAHOMA CORPORATION,
Appellees
Appeal from the United States District Court
Northern District of Mississippi
USDC 3:18-CV-111
Before HIGGINBOTHAM, STEWART, and ENGELHARDT, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
* 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 R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not
be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH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.
Case: 19-60265 Document: 00515265462 Page: 2 Date Filed: 01/09/2020
This appeal comes to us from the district court, which reviewed decisions
by the bankruptcy court. “We review a district court’s affirmance of a
bankruptcy court decision by applying the same standard of review to the
bankruptcy court decision that the district court applied.” UTSA Apts. L.L.C.
v. UTSA Apts. 8, L.L.C. (In re UTSA Apts. 8, L.L.C.),
886 F.3d 473, 485 (5th
Cir. 2018) (internal quotation marks omitted).
Here, the district court appropriately reviewed the bankruptcy court’s
post-trial findings of fact for clear error and its conclusions of law de novo.
Smith v. Mid-S. Maint., Inc.,
363 F. Supp. 3d 701, 703 (N.D. Miss. 2019); In re
UTSA Apts. 8,
L.L.C, 886 F.3d at 485 (reviewing district court’s findings of fact
for clear error and its conclusions of law de novo). Essentially for the reasons
explained by the district court, we agree that the bankruptcy court did not err
in denying Stephen and Jessica Smith’s motion to dismiss the adversary
complaint filed by the Mid-South creditors in this case. Burk v. Smith (In re
Burk),
583 B.R. 655, 674 (Bankr. N.D. Miss. 2018), aff’d sub nom.
Smith, 363
F. Supp. 3d at 702–10. Nor did the bankruptcy court err in finding—in a
thoroughly-reasoned 35-page opinion following a three-day trial—that the
Smiths’s debts to the Mid-South creditors are nondischargeable under 11
U.S.C. sections 523(a)(2)(A) and 523(a)(6). See
id. Accordingly, we AFFIRM.