Opinion
MEMORANDUM ON MOTION TO STAY PROCEEDINGS
ALAN JAROSLOVSKY, Bankruptcy Judge
Plaintiff and defendant are both defendants in pending criminal proceedings. Defendant has moved the court to stay this adversary proceeding until the criminal proceedings are concluded. For reasons not clear to the court, plaintiff opposes.
Prior to the enactment of the Bankruptcy Code, debtors who invoked their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination risked the loss of their discharge. The law was changed in 1978, with the inclusion of § 344 into the Code. That section gives the court the power to grant immunity in return for testimony.
The court has no interest in granting anyone immunity. Prosecution of this adversary proceeding is pointless until the criminal case is over. Accordingly, the motion will be granted and all activity in this adversary proceeding will be stayed until July 25, 2011, at 2:00 P.M. A status conference will be held at that time to determine if the matter should be restored to active status.
Counsel for defendant shall submit an appropriate form of order. Both sides are warned that any further pleadings which do not have a proper adversary proceeding caption in the form set forth above will be stricken.