Opinion
CV-21-01497-PHX-JAT
02-22-2024
Mountains of Spices LLC, Plaintiff, v. Qisheng Chen, Sara Lihong Wei Lafrenz, Defendants.
ORDER
James A. Teilborg, Senior United States District Judge
On January 4, 2024, this Court entered judgment in this case, which included a default judgment against Defendant Sara Lihong Wei Lafrenz (“Sara”) in the amount of $4,550,000 plus interest. (Doc. 127). On February 8, 2024, Sara moved to set aside the judgment, which this Court did not consider for procedural reasons. On February 16, 2024, Sara again moved to set aside the judgment.
On February 19, 2024, Plaintiff filed an application for Writ of Garnishment against Sara to collect the judgment that is subject to the motion to set aside. In the motion to set aside, Sara alleged, among other things, that the amount of the judgment should be reduced by $3,508,872.00 because Plaintiff already received that amount from the related interpleader case in Maricopa County Superior Court. (Doc. 143 at 7). Plaintiff has not had the opportunity to respond to this allegation. However, the Court notes that the Court's calculation of damages occurred on January 27, 2023 (Doc. 84), but judgment did not enter until January 4, 2024 (Doc. 127). Sara alleges that Plaintiff's state court recovery was November 8, 2023. (Doc. 143 at 7). Therefore, it is possible that the Court's calculation of damages, at a minimum, needs to be redone.
Sara has not moved to stay the Writ of Garnishment pending the outcome of the motion to set aside. This Court notes that on motion, another Judge in this district issued a stay while a motion to set aside was pending. Brad Hall & Assocs. Inc. v. Elkotb, No. CV-22-00155-TUC-RM, 2022 WL 17490585, at *1 (D. Ariz. Nov. 4, 2022). For these reasons, IT IS ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall stay issuance of a Writ of Garnishment (based on the application at Doc. 142 or any additional applications filed in the future) until March 4, 2024, to give Sara time to move for a stay if she so chooses. If no motion to stay is filed by March 4, 2024, the Clerk of the Court shall rule on any pending applications. If a motion to stay is filed, the stay of the Writ(s) shall be extended until the motion to stay is ruled on by this Court.