## Facts

- Walter Calvin White, Jr. armed himself with a handgun in anticipation of confronting William Tipton after an ongoing argument.
- During the confrontation on a residential street in Richmond, Virginia, Tipton fled on a motorcycle.
- White fired at Tipton as Tipton passed near Ralph Edward Davis, an uninvolved bystander.
- The shot missed Tipton and struck Davis in the stomach, seriously injuring him.
- White claimed the gun discharged accidentally when he tripped; the bankruptcy court found this testimony not credible.
- White was later convicted in state court of maiming Davis.
- Davis obtained a $50,000 default judgment against White in state court based on willful and malicious wounding.
- After White filed bankruptcy, Davis filed an adversary proceeding seeking a determination that the judgment debt was nondischargeable under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(6).

## Issues

1. Whether a tort judgment arising from an intentional shooting is excepted from discharge under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(6) as a debt for “willful and malicious injury.”
2. Whether § 523(a)(6) applies when the debtor intended to shoot one person but instead injured an unintended victim, based on transferred intent.

## Decision

- The bankruptcy court held that White’s conduct constituted a willful and malicious injury within the meaning of 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(6).
- The court applied transferred intent, treating White’s intent to injure Tipton as transferring to Davis, the person actually injured.
- The $50,000 state-court judgment debt to Davis was declared nondischargeable.

## Legal Principles

- Under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(6), a debt is nondischargeable if it arises from an injury that is both willful (intentional) and malicious (wrongful and without just cause).
- A court may reject a debtor’s claim of accidental harm based on credibility findings and surrounding circumstances showing intentional conduct.
- Transferred intent can satisfy § 523(a)(6) where the debtor commits an intentional injurious act aimed at one person but injures another; the injury to the actual victim is treated as willful and malicious for discharge purposes.
- The “willful and malicious injury” inquiry focuses on the debtor’s intentional wrongful conduct producing injury, not on whether the debtor specifically targeted the person who was harmed.

## Conclusion

The bankruptcy court ruled that a debtor who intentionally shoots at one person cannot discharge liability for injuries to an unintended bystander; transferred intent makes the resulting judgment debt nondischargeable under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(6).


In re White, 18 B.R. 246 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 1982)