Doug's Coin & Jewery Inc et al v. Americas Value Channel Inc et al

Filing 69

MEMORANDUM OPINION. Signed by Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala on 6/10/2015. (KEK)

FILED
2015 Jun-10 PM 03:39
U.S. DISTRICT COURT
N.D. OF ALABAMA

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
SOUTHERN DIVISION
DOUG’S COIN & JEWELRY, INC., }
et al.,
}
}
Plaintiffs,
}
}
v.
}
}
AMERICA’S VALUE CHANNEL,
}
INC., et al.,
}
}
Defendants.
}

Case No.: 2:12-cv-01095-MHH

MEMORANDUM OPINION
On March 31, 2015, Magistrate Judge Staci Cornelius entered a report in
which she recommended that the Court grant in part the plaintiffs’ motion for
default judgment as to the plaintiffs’ conversion claims against defendant John G.
Binns and that the Court grant defendant America’s Value Channel, Inc.’s motion
for summary judgment. (Doc. 67). Magistrate Judge Cornelius permitted the
parties fourteen days to file objections to the recommendation. (Doc. 67, p. 35).
No party has filed objections.
A district court “may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or part, the findings
or recommendations made by the magistrate judge.” 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C).
When a party makes timely objections to a report and recommendation, the district

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court “make[s] a de novo determination of those portions of the report or specified
proposed findings or recommendations to which objection is made.” Id.
When no objections are filed, the district court need not conduct a de novo
review. Garvey v. Vaughn, 993 F.2d 776, 779 n.9 (11th Cir. 1993); see also
United States v. Slay, 714 F.2d 1093, 1095 (11th Cir. 1983) (per curiam), cert.
denied, 464 U.S. 1050 (1984) (“The failure to object to the magistrate’s findings
of fact prohibits an attack on appeal of the factual findings adopted by the district
court except on grounds of plain error or manifest injustice.”) (internal citation
omitted). In Macort v. Prem, Inc., 208 Fed. Appx. 781, 784 (11th Cir. 2006), the
Eleventh Circuit stated:
Most circuits agree that “[i]n the absence of a timely filed objection, a
district court need not conduct a de novo review, but instead must
only satisfy itself that there is no clear error on the face of the record
in order to accept the recommendation.” Diamond v. Colonial Life &
Accident Ins., 416 F.3d 310, 315 (4th Cir. 2005) (quotations omitted);
accord Johnson v. Zema Sys. Corp., 170 F.3d 734, 739 (7th Cir.1999)
(“If no objection or only partial objection is made [to the magistrate
judge’s report], the district court judge reviews those unobjected
portions for clear error.”); United States v. Wilson, 864 F.2d 1219,
1221 (5th Cir. 1989) (noting that the “clearly erroneous” standard is
appropriate where there has been no objection to the magistrate
judge’s ruling); Drywall Tapers & Pointers v. Local 530, 889 F.2d
389, 395 (2d Cir. 1989) (“Where a magistrate [judge] has been
appointed to conduct an evidentiary hearing, the district court reviews
the Report and Recommendation under the same clearly erroneous
standard.”) (citing Wooldridge v. Marlene Indus. Corp., 875 F.2d 540,
544 (6th Cir. 1989)).

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Id. To date, the Eleventh Circuit does not appear to have expressly held that, in the
absence of objections, a district court should review a report and recommendation
for clear error; however, the Court assumes from the discussion in Macort that the
Eleventh Circuit would adopt such a standard if the Court were to address the issue
directly. See generally Shuler v. Infinity Property & Gas, 2013 WL 1346615, at *1
(N.D. Ala. Mar. 29, 2013) (portions of a report and recommendation “to which no
objection is filed are reviewed only for clear error.”).
The Court has reviewed the record and Magistrate Judge Cornelius’s report
and recommendation. (Doc. 67). Applying the clearly erroneous standard, the
Court ADOPTS her report and ACCEPTS her recommendation that the Court
grant in part the plaintiffs’ motion for default judgment and grant defendant
America’s Value Channel, Inc.’s motion for summary judgment.
The Court will enter a separate final judgment consistent with this
memorandum opinion.
DONE and ORDERED this June 10, 2015.

_________________________________
MADELINE HUGHES HAIKALA
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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