Specific Intent is not Required to Establish a Willful Injury under ...

By: Robert Garafola

St. John’s Law Student

American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review Staff

In Jendusa-Nicolai v. Larsen, the Seventh Circuit held that section 523(a)(6) of the Bankruptcy Code prevented the debtor, David Larsen, from discharging his debt from a civil judgment stemming from the attempted murder of his former wife, Teri Jendusa-Nicolai.[1] Larsen savagely beat Jendusa-Nicolai with a baseball bat, sealed her in a snow-filled trash can, and left her to die in a storage facility.[2] Jendusa-Nicolai miraculously survived, but she lost all of her toes to frostbite and suffered a miscarriage.[3]  Larsen was sentenced to life imprisonment for his crimes and lost a civil action to Jendusa-Nicolai and her family, who were awarded a judgment in excess of $3.4 million.[4] Larsen attempted to discharge the debt from the judgment by filing for bankruptcy under Chapter 7. Larsen argued that his debt should be discharged because he did not willfully injure his ex-wife within the meaning of section 523(a)(6) since he did not specifically intend to cause his ex-wife to lose her unborn child and toes.[5]  However, the court found that the statute did not require that the debtor intend to cause specific injuries and that a broader analysis of the debtor’s intended results is proper.[6]

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