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UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
In re
Chapter 11 V & M MANAGEMENT, INC.,
Case No. 96-10123-CJK
Debtor
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER ON MOTION FOR CHANCE OF VENUE OF THIS CASE TO ANOTHER STATE
Alphonse Mourad has filed a motion for change of venue of this case to another state. By this motion, Mr. Mourad seeks to avoid the possibility that I, as chief judge of the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (BAP), might sit on the panel that hears any appeal that may arise from the order determining the sole matter remaining for adjudication in this bankruptcy case: the remanded "Motion by Alphonse Mourad to Allow Administrative Claim Late." The motion for change of venue is based on an incorrect premise: under the rules governing the BAP, no judge of the BAP may participate in the resolution of an appeal arising from the district in which that judge sits as a bankruptcy judge. There is no possibility of my hearing and deciding an appeal from my own order.
Mr. Mourad also states, as further grounds for the same relief, that I am biased against him and that I could potentially be called as a witness in this matter. The charge of bias is not elaborated upon and is based on no allegation that he has not already articulated in one or more of the many motions for recusal he has filed in this case; I reject the present charge on the same basis as [ rejected the others. And the possibility of my being called as a witness is nothing more than a forum-shopping device: a litigant cannot obtain a change of venue simply by threatening to call the judge as a witness. Mr. Mourad has not articulated any relevant matter as to which I
might legitimately be called as a witness.' For all these reasons, the motion for change of venue must be denied.
OHDgR
For the reasons stated above. Alphonse Mourad's Motion for Change of Venue of this Case to Another State is hereby DENIED.
3/24/04
Carol J. Kenner
United States Bankruptcy Judge
cc: Mr. Alphonse Mourad
Paul Moore, Esq., for Creditors' Trustee Eric Bradford, Esq., for U.S. Trustee
' The alleged conflict of interest between Debtor's counsel and the Chapter 11 trustee has no evident relevance to the negligence charges at issue; and, in any case, 1 would have no relevant testimony to offer on that subject, certainly nothing better than could be obtained directly from the dockets and case records in the various cases concerned.