Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy Judge did not err in finding that debtor's $3.4 million debt to ex-wife, as well as his $300,000 debt to ex-wife's current husband and daughters were not dischargeable in bankruptcy where $3.4 million debt stemmed from judgment ex-wife obtained in tort action for personal injuries caused by debtor during incident in which debtor hit ex-wife with baseball bat and sealed her in garbage can, and where $300,000 debt stemmed from judgment awarded to ex-wife's current husband and daughters for their loss of consortium stemming from ex-wife's injuries caused by debtor. Instant debts arose out of willful and malicious injuries sustained by ex-wife, and thus were not dischargeable under 11 USC section 523(a)(6), where, as here record showed that debtor intended to injure his ex-wife, and that her injuries were foreseeable consequences of his intentional acts. Ct. rejected debtor's argument that awards given for punitive damages and/or loss of consortium could not be properly classified as awards stemming from willful injuries.