United States of America v. Dolenz et al

Filing 56

Memorandum Opinion and Order granting 47 MOTION to Strike Jury Demand of Anis Rahman filed by United States of America and Jury Demand is hereby stricken from the record. See Order (Ordered by Magistrate Judge Jeff Kaplan on 9/30/09) (svc)

IN THE IINITED STATESDISTRICTCOURT N O R T H E R NDISTRICTOF TEXAS D A L L A S DIVISION LINITED STATESOF AMERICA Plaintiff, VS. B E R N A R DDOLENZ,ET AL,
Defendants.

N O .3- 0 9 - C V - 1 3 1 1 - O

MEMORANDUM

ORDER

Plaintiff United States of America has filed a motion to strike a jury demand made by Defendant Anis Rahman as part of his answer in this case. As grounds for its motion, plaintiff contendsthat Rahman is not entitled to a jury trial in a civil action brought by the governmentto positions c l e a rtitle to and foreclosea lien on real property. The partieshavebriefedtheir respective 28,2009, and the motion is ripe for determination. i n a joint statusreport filed on September I t is well settledthat "thereis a right to jury trial only for claims and issuesof a legal nature, ." a n d not for thoseof an equitablenature Austin v. Shalala,994 F .2d 1170, | 175 (5th Cir. 1993), c i t i n g 9 C. Wright& A. Miller, FederalPracticeand Procedure 2314 at70-71 (1971). "The $ posture of the parties and the issuesraised by the caseare [ ] important considerationsin resolving this issue." 1d The instant case is a civil action brought by the government to clear title to and foreclose a lien on certain real property owned by Bernard Dolenz, who was orderedto pay more t h a n $ 1.6million in criminal restitutionunderthe MandatoryVictims RestitutionAct, l8 U.S.C. $$ 3 6 6 3 A - 3 6 6 4 . The propertyat issueis a houselocatedat 6102SwissAvenue in Dallas,Texas("the trustsandtransfers, well as to S w i s sAvenue House"). To cleartitle, plaintiff seeks setasideseveral lien against a s strip a number of liens againstthe property. Rahmanclaims to hold a $324,830.00

the Swiss Avenue House. In light ofthe issuespresented and the postureofthe parties,the court has little difficulty in characterizingthis action asequitable,ratherthan legal, in nature. There is no right to ajury trial underthesecircumstances.See,e.g. United Statesv. McMahan, 569F.2d 889, 89 I (5th Cir. 1978) (no right to jury trial in suit to set asidefraudulenttransfer and foreclosetax lien); United Statesv. Stewart,No.A-02-CA-673-H,2003WL932362at*l-2(W.D.Tex. Jan.31,2003)(same); T a p p v. United states,No. A-00-CA-668-SS,2001 WL 587217at*2-3 (W.D. Tex. Apr. 27,2001) (same). Thedemand Forthesereasons,plaintiffsmotiontostrikejurydemandfDoc.#47)isgranted. for a jury trial made by Defendant Anis Rahman is hereby stricken from the record.

S O ORDERED. 30, D A T E D : September 2009.

JUDGE MAGISTRATE STATES