Flavius, Thomas v. Manibo, M.D., Jose
DISTRICT COURT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS DIVISION OF ST. CROIX 5 THOMAS FLAVIUS and TERRILEE 5 STEVENS-FLAVIUS, 5 5 Plaintiffs, 5 2007-CV-0048 v. 5 5 JOSE MANIBO, M.D., JUAN F. LUIS 5 HOSPITAL AND MEDICAL CENTER, and 5 GOVERNMENT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS,5 5 Defendants. 5 __________________________________________5 TO: Emile A. Henderson, III, Esq. Eugenio W.A. Geigel-Simounet, Esq. ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION REQUESTING NON-RESIDENT BOND THIS MATTER came before the Court upon Defendants’ Motion Requesting Non- Resident Bond (Docket No. 11). This order is issued without necessity of response. Defendants base their motion upon V.I. Code Ann. tit. 5, § 547. However, Judge Moore of the Division of St. Thomas and St. John, in Mossman v. Moran, Civil No. 2004-31, 2004 WL 1664010 (D.V.I. June 1, 2004), declared that said Virgin Islands statute does not apply to a diversity action in federal court. As explained by Judge Moore, “section 547 is clearly a rule of procedure rather than substance . . . .” Id. at *3. Case: 1:07-cv-00048-AET-GWC Document #: 12 Filed: 06/27/07 Page 1 of 3 Flavius v. …
Download the original document · Plain text (TXT) · Browse the archive · How this archive works
Original source: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-vid-1_07-cv-00048/pdf/USCOURTS-vid-1_07-cv-00048-0.pdf
SHA-256 1ac51e491c9f31048b6e05bce44e828ce2673ffdeb0a253a7a6e4a5799d7a1c3
Re-using this document
two independent grounds: a work of the United States Government under 17 USC 105, AND a judicial opinion, which is an edict of government and uncopyrightable by anyone including the court that wrote it
Our description, tagging, arrangement, extracted text and machine transcripts are released under CC0 1.0. We assert nothing about the document itself.
Archive identifier LF-1ac51e491c9f
Document text
DISTRICT COURT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS DIVISION OF ST. CROIX 5 THOMAS FLAVIUS and TERRILEE 5 STEVENS-FLAVIUS, 5 5 Plaintiffs, 5 2007-CV-0048 v. 5 5 JOSE MANIBO, M.D., JUAN F. LUIS 5 HOSPITAL AND MEDICAL CENTER, and 5 GOVERNMENT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS,5 5 Defendants. 5 __________________________________________5 TO: Emile A. Henderson, III, Esq. Eugenio W.A. Geigel-Simounet, Esq. ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION REQUESTING NON-RESIDENT BOND THIS MATTER came before the Court upon Defendants’ Motion Requesting Non- Resident Bond (Docket No. 11). This order is issued without necessity of response. Defendants base their motion upon V.I. Code Ann. tit. 5, § 547. However, Judge Moore of the Division of St. Thomas and St. John, in Mossman v. Moran, Civil No. 2004-31, 2004 WL 1664010 (D.V.I. June 1, 2004), declared that said Virgin Islands statute does not apply to a diversity action in federal court. As explained by Judge Moore, “section 547 is clearly a rule of procedure rather than substance . . . .” Id. at *3. Case: 1:07-cv-00048-AET-GWC Document #: 12 Filed: 06/27/07 Page 1 of 3 Flavius v. Manibo 2007-CV-0048 Order Denying Defendants’ Motion Requesting Non-Resident Bond In Erie R.R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64 (1938), the United States Supreme Court held: [E]xcept in matters governed by the Federal Constitution or by acts of Congress, the law to be applied in any case is the law of the state. And whether the law of the state shall be declared by its Legislature in a statute or by its highest court in a decision is not a matter of federal concern. Id. at 78. Judge Reed, concurring, clarified, “The line between procedural and substantive law is hazy, but no one doubts federal power over procedure.” Id. at 92 (citing Wayman v. Southard, 10 Wheat. 1, 6 L.Ed. 253). Thus, in Yohannon v. Keene Corp., 924 F.2d 1255, 1265 (3d Cir. 1991), the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit articulated, “[A] federal court sitting in diversity must apply the law of the forum state to questions that are ‘substantive’ but must use federal rules to govern ‘procedural’ maters.” Id. at 92 (citing Erie, 304 U.S. at 92). Based upon the foregoing, Judge Moore concluded that Section 547 does not apply to diversity proceeding in this Court. The Court agrees and finds Section 547 to be procedural, and not substantive, in nature. The Court further finds Judge Moore’s reasoning persuasive and now holds that Section 547 does not apply to diversity proceedings in this Court. Accordingly, it is now hereby ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion Requesting Non- Resident Bond (Docket No. 11) is DENIED. Case: 1:07-cv-00048-AET-GWC Document #: 12 Filed: 06/27/07 Page 2 of 3 Flavius v. Manibo 2007-CV-0048 Order Denying Defendants’ Motion Requesting Non-Resident Bond ENTER: Dated: June 27, 2007 _____________________________________ GEORGE W. CANNON, JR. U.S. MAGISTRATE JUDGE ATTEST: WILFREDO F. MORALES Clerk of Court By: ______________________________ Deputy Clerk Case: 1:07-cv-00048-AET-GWC Document #: 12 Filed: 06/27/07 Page 3 of 3