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United States

FIFTH Court
CIRCUIT of Appeals
OFFICE OFTHE CLERK
CHARLES R. FULBRUGE III TEL. S04-310-7700
CLERK 600 S. MAESTRI PLACE
NEW ORLEANS, LA 70130

September 01, 2009

Ms. Loretta Whyte


U. S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana
500 Poydras Street
Room C-151
New Orleans, LA 70130

No. 09-30609, Turner, et al v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc.


USDC No. 2:05-CV-4206

Enclosed i~ a copy of the judgment issued as the mandate.

CHARLES R. FULBRUGE III, Clerk

BY:{}L----~
Chrls P. Descant, Deputy Clerk
504-310-7704
cc: w/encl:
Mr. Wayne J Duchmann
Mr. Daniel Lee Dysart
Mr. George A Frilot III
Mr. Kerry J Miller
Mr. Kyle Andrew Spaulding
Mr. Paul C Thibodeaux

Mandate Issued - MDT-l (!ag,tax,img)


IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT Us c
'; OURTOFAP
FILSOSALS
No. 09-30609 Sf? 0,1 20D.9

WAYNE J. DUCHMANN 9Hll!!l,ll~'t l'IJt~fJI


Plaintiff - Appellant

ESTATE OF GRACE BLANCARD DUCHMANN

Appellant
v.

MURPHY OIL, USA INC.

Defendant - Appellee

Appeal from the United States Di~r~~Court


for the Eastern District of Louisiana

Before DAVIS, STEWART, and HAYNES, Circuit Judges.


PER CURIAM:*
Following a Hurricane Katrina-induced oil spill, Murphy Oil Company was
sued by various landowners for the ensuing damages. Ultimately, a consolidated
class action resulted in the court certifying a class of residents and property
owners within a specific geographic boundary. That class action, in turn, was
settled in 2006. In January of2007, Wayne Duchmann ("Duchmann") appeared
No. 09-30609

and objected·to the settlement agreement. He contended that he represented the


interests of his then recently deceased mother, but he presented no proof ofthis
status. Duchmann then appealed the district court's approval of the classwide
settlement. We dismissed for lack of standing, and certiorari was denied.
Turner u. Murphy Oil USA Inc., Case No. 07-30211 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 128
S. Ct. 495 (2007).
Subsequently, some distribution was apparently made to the Estate of
Grace Blanchard Duchmann, Duchmann's mother, and it appears Duchmann
was an heir or legatee ~ho received some of those funds. However, nothing
presented to this court or located in the district court records shows any
appointment or designation ofDuchmann as his mother's estate's representative
subsequent to our dismissal in 2007.
In May of this year, the district court conducted a hearing regarding the
disposition of certain funds remaining from the settlement after distribution to
the residents. The court entered an order and overruled objections to that order.

On June 26, Duchmann filed a notice of apPial~ating


\,
as follows: "Notice is
"-

hereby given that the Estate of GRACE BLANCHARD DUCHl\!{ANNA [sic]


Plaintiff in the above caption [sic] case, Hereby [sic] Appeal [sic] to the United
State [sic] Court [sic] Appeals for the Fifth Circuit [from the order described in
.
this paragraph]." Duchmann signed the notice as "Agent for GRACE
BLANCHARD DUCHMANN."
Murphy filed a motion to dismiss this appeal contending that Duchmann's
lack of standing had already been established by this court's prior order. In
response, Duchmann filed several affidavits dated August 7, 2009 from
individuals who, we assume, are landowners in the relevant area, designating
Duchmann as their agent for purposes of the appeal. As discussed above,
nothing has been presented to this court to show that Duchmann is the proper
representative of his mother's estate or that there has been a change in his

2
No. 09-30609

status since, our original ruling. We reject the effort to bring in additional
appellants by way of the agency affidavits signed weeks, after the appeal was
filed by people who did not themselves file notices of appeal from the May 27,
2009 order.
Accordingly, Murphy's motion to dismiss this appeal for lack of standing
is GRANTED. Duchmann is warned that continued filings without proper
establishment of his standing may lead to sanctions.

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