Donna Jo Corse et al v. Bankruptcy Estate of Donna Jo Corse

Filing 15

OPINION AND ORDER re 1 Preliminary Filing of Bankruptcy Appeal. The judgment of the Bankruptcy Court is AFFIRMED and the appeal is DENIED. So Ordered by Chief Judge William E. Smith on 02/19/2014. (Urizandi, Nisshy)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND
___________________________________
)
In re DONNA JO CORSE,
)
)
Debtor,
)
)
JOSEPHINE CORSE,
)
)
C.A. No. 13-282 S
Appellant,
)
)
v.
)
)
BANKRUPTCY ESTATE OF DONNA
)
JO CORSE, TRUSTEE,
)
)
Appellee.
)
___________________________________)
OPINION AND ORDER
WILLIAM E. SMITH, Chief Judge.
This matter comes before the Court on Appellant Josephine
Corse’s (“Appellant”) appeal from an order of the United States
Bankruptcy Court for the District of Rhode Island dismissing her
appeal

of

untimely.

an

Order

Approving

Private

Sale

of

Property

as

For the reasons set forth below, the judgment of the

Bankruptcy Court is AFFIRMED and the appeal is DENIED.
I.

Facts
In August 2010, Donna Jo Corse (the “Debtor”) filed for

Chapter

7

bankruptcy

protection.

The

Debtor

owns

a

1/4

remainder interest in property located in North Kingston, Rhode
Island, subject to the life estate of her mother, the Appellant.
In

September

2012,

the

appointed
1

Chapter

7

trustee

(the

“Trustee”) filed a motion seeking the approval of the Bankruptcy
Court to sell the Debtor’s remainder interest in the property.
The

Appellant

objected.

After

reviewing

submissions

by

the

parties and hearing argument, the Bankruptcy Court authorized
the proposed sale, and issued an order to that effect on January
31, 2013. 1
Precisely

fifteen

days

after

issuance

of

the

order,

February 15, 2013, the Appellant filed a notice of appeal.

on
On

March 25, 2013, the Bankruptcy Court issued an order for the
parties

to

show

cause

dismissed as untimely.

as

to

why

the

appeal

should

not

be

A hearing was held on April 10, 2013, at

which the Bankruptcy Court set forth a detailed oral decision
dismissing the appeal on the grounds that it was untimely.

The

instant appeal to this Court followed.
II.

Discussion
The Bankruptcy Court’s findings of fact are reviewed for

clear error and its conclusions of law are reviewed de novo.
Palmacci v. Umpierrez, 121 F.3d 781, 785 (1st Cir. 1997).

“The

notice of appeal shall be filed with the clerk within 14 days of
the date of the entry of the judgment, order, or decree appealed
from.”

Fed. R. Bankr. P. 8002(a).

Furthermore, “[a] bankruptcy

judge may dismiss an appeal if . . . the notice of appeal is not
1

On February 2, 2013, a certificate of notice regarding the
January 31 order was posted to the Bankruptcy Court’s electronic
docket.
2

filed within the time specified in Bankruptcy Rule 8002.”

LR

Gen 109(f)(5)(A).
As

the

Bankruptcy

Court

recognized

in

its

detailed

and

thorough oral decision, the Appellant’s notice of appeal was
filed a day late.

The fourteen-day period in which a notice of

appeal could have been filed under Bankruptcy Rule 8002 began on
January 31, 2013 upon issuance of the Bankruptcy Court’s ruling,
not, as the Appellant would have the Court believe, on February
2, 2013 when the certificate of notice was posted.

See In re

Mitchell, No. 10-20059-JNF, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 814, at *13-14
(Bankr. D. Mass. March 2, 2011) (“It is well established that
the

[fourteen]

judgment

or

day

order

period
and

not

begins
from

to
the

notice.”) (internal citation omitted).

run
date

upon
of

entry

of

the

service

of

the

For this reason, the

judgment of the Bankruptcy Court is AFFIRMED and the appeal is
DENIED.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

William E. Smith
Chief Judge
Date: February 19, 2014

3