DISTRICT COURT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
DIVISION OF ST. CROIX
5
THOMAS FLAVIUS and TERRILEE
5
STEVENS-FLAVIUS,
5
5
Plaintiffs,
5
2007-CV-0048
v.
5
5
JOSE MANIBO, M.D., JUAN F. LUIS
5
HOSPITAL AND MEDICAL CENTER, and
5
GOVERNMENT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS,5
5
Defendants. 5
__________________________________________5
TO:
Emile A. Henderson, III, Esq.
Eugenio W.A. Geigel-Simounet, Esq.
ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION REQUESTING NON-RESIDENT
BOND
THIS MATTER came before the Court upon Defendants’ Motion Requesting Non-
Resident Bond (Docket No. 11).  This order is issued without necessity of response.
Defendants base their motion upon V.I. Code Ann. tit. 5, § 547.    However, Judge
Moore of the Division of St. Thomas and St. John, in Mossman v. Moran, Civil No. 2004-31,
2004 WL 1664010 (D.V.I. June 1, 2004), declared that said Virgin Islands statute does not
apply to a diversity action in federal court.  As explained by Judge Moore, “section 547 is
clearly a rule of procedure rather than substance . . . .”  Id. at *3.
Case: 1:07-cv-00048-AET-GWC   Document #: 12   Filed: 06/27/07   Page 1 of 3
Flavius v. Manibo
2007-CV-0048
Order Denying Defendants’ Motion Requesting Non-Resident Bond
Page 2
In Erie R.R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64 (1938), the United States Supreme Court
held:
[E]xcept in matters governed by the Federal Constitution or by acts of
Congress, the law to be applied in any case is the law of the state.  And
whether the law of the state shall be declared by its Legislature in a statute
or by its highest court in a decision is not a matter of federal concern.
Id. at 78.  Judge Reed, concurring, clarified, “The line between procedural and substantive
law is hazy, but no one doubts federal power over procedure.”  Id. at 92 (citing Wayman v.
Southard, 10 Wheat. 1, 6 L.Ed. 253).  Thus, in Yohannon v. Keene Corp., 924 F.2d 1255, 1265
(3d Cir. 1991), the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit articulated, “[A]
federal court sitting in diversity must apply the law of the forum state to questions that are
‘substantive’ but must use federal rules to govern ‘procedural’ maters.”  Id. at 92 (citing
Erie, 304 U.S. at 92).  Based upon the foregoing, Judge Moore concluded that Section 547
does not apply to diversity proceeding in this Court.
The Court agrees and finds Section 547 to be procedural, and not substantive, in
nature.  The Court further finds Judge Moore’s reasoning persuasive and now holds that
Section 547 does not apply to diversity proceedings in this Court.
Accordingly, it is now hereby ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion Requesting Non-
Resident Bond (Docket No. 11) is DENIED.
Case: 1:07-cv-00048-AET-GWC   Document #: 12   Filed: 06/27/07   Page 2 of 3
Flavius v. Manibo
2007-CV-0048
Order Denying Defendants’ Motion Requesting Non-Resident Bond
Page 3
ENTER:
Dated: June 27, 2007
_____________________________________
GEORGE W. CANNON, JR.                      
U.S. MAGISTRATE JUDGE
ATTEST:
WILFREDO F. MORALES
Clerk of Court
By:
______________________________
Deputy Clerk
Case: 1:07-cv-00048-AET-GWC   Document #: 12   Filed: 06/27/07   Page 3 of 3