Opinion
Case No. 05-60140.
October 7, 2005
AMENDED OPINION AND ORDER
Appellants Mark and Juanita Murdock filed a pro se appeal of a decision of the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, which denied a motion for reconsideration of earlier orders that dismissed the case and denied some of the Murdock's motions.
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) provides that relief from judgment may be obtained when one of a number of circumstances is established, including mistake, inadvertence, surprise, excusable neglect, newly discovered evidence, fraud or other reasons. The denial of a motion made pursuant to Rule 60(b) is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. Browder v. Director, Dep't of Corr. of Ill., 434 U.S. 257, 263 n. 7 (1978). When reviewing an appeal of a motion made pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) and the corresponding Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 9024, the court does not review the underlying judgments, but merely inquires whether the circumstances provided in Rule 60(b) are present.
In this case, the Bankruptcy Court did not abuse its discretion when it denied the Murdock's motion for reconsideration. The Murdocks did not include any newly discovered evidence and did not demonstrate the Bankruptcy Court's earlier orders constituted palpable error. The Murdocks essentially rehashed the same arguments they made in the original motions. Denying the motion for reconsideration was proper.
Accordingly, the decision of the Bankruptcy Court to deny Appellants' 60(b) motion is AFFIRMED.
This Opinion and Order has been amended to correct the caption.