Opinion
Case. No. 3:09-cv-1286-J-34TEM.
May 17, 2011
ORDER
THIS CAUSE is before the Court on the Report and Recommendation (Dkt. No. 15; Report), entered by the Honorable Thomas E. Morris, United States Magistrate Judge, on April 6, 2011. In the Report, Magistrate Judge Morris recommends that the United States' Motion for Entry of Default Judgment (Dkt. No. 13; Motion for Default Judgment) be granted, that Judgment be entered in favor of the United States in the amount of $14,510.46, plus interest at the rate of nine percent per annum from December 8, 2010 to the date of Judgment, and that the United States be awarded post-judgment interest at the legal rate established by Title 28, United States Code, Section 1961. See Report at 3-4. Defendant has failed to file objections to the Report, and the time for doing so has now passed.
The Court "may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate judge." 28 U.S.C. § 636(b). If no specific objections to findings of facts are filed, the district court is not required to conduct a de novo review of those findings. See Garvey v. Vaughn, 993 F.2d 776, 779 n. 9 (11th Cir. 1993); see also 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). However, the district court must review legal conclusions de novo. See Cooper-Houston v. Southern Ry. Co., 37 F.3d 603, 604 (11th Cir. 1994); United States v. Rice, No. 2:07-mc-8-FtM-29SPC, 2007 WL 1428615, at * 1 (M.D. Fla. May 14, 2007).
Upon independent review of the file and for the reasons stated in the Magistrate Judge's Report, the Court will accept and adopt, in part, the Report of the Magistrate Judge. The Court is in agreement with the Magistrate Judge's analysis of the Motion for Default Judgment currently before the Court, and with his recommendation that the Motion for Default Judgment is due to be granted. However, the Court determines that what appears to have been a mathematical error results in a recommendation that judgment be entered in an amount greater than that due to the United States.
The United States asserts that Defendant is in default of his obligation to pay $5,940.74, and that pursuant to the promissory note executed by Defendant, interest on that sum accrues at a rate of nine percent per annum or $1.46 per day. Indeed, the Certificate of Indebtedness attached as Exhibit B to the Motion for Default Judgment specifically provides that "interest accrues on the principle shown here at the rate of $1.46 per day." See Motion for Default Judgment at Exhibit B. However, the Report recommends that judgment be entered "in favor of the United States in the amount of $14,510.46, plus interest at the rate of nine percent per annum from December 8, 2010 to the date of Judgment." Report at 3. If the Court were to enter judgment in accordance with this recommendation, the United States would be awarded interest accruing at a rate of nine percent on approximately $8,500.00 of previously accrued interest, rather than solely on the outstanding principle due. Such an award is neither supported by the Motion for Default Judgment nor the Certificate of Indebtedness. Instead, it appears that judgment is due to be entered in favor of the United States in the principle amount of $5,940.74, together with prejudgment interest accruing at a rate of nine percent per annum through the date of judgment and post judgment interest thereafter.
In light of the foregoing, it is hereby
ORDERED:
1. The Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation (Dkt. No. 15) is ADOPTED, as the opinion of the Court, to the extent that:
a. The United States' Motion for Entry of Default Judgment (Dkt. No. 13) is GRANTED.
b. The Clerk of the Court is directed to enter Judgment in favor of the United States and against James Blanchard in the amount of $5,940.74, together with prejudgment interest in the amount of $8,803.32.
c. Post-judgment interest shall accrue at the legal rate established by 28 United States Code § 1961.
2. The Clerk of the Court is directed to close the file.
DONE AND ORDERED at Jacksonville, Florida.