In the Matter of a Mail Dispute	)  December 2, 1999
Between				)
				)
IPEK B. WARNOCK			)
				)
	and			)
				)
MARK A. WARNOCK			)  P.S. Docket No. MD 99-421

APPEARANCE FOR DISPUTANT	Ipek B. Warnock
IPEK B. WARNOCK			2315 Kerr Road
				Harleysville, PA 19438-3108

APPEARANCE FOR DISPUTANT	Mark A. Warnock
MARK A. WARNOCK:		c/o Glenn C. Romano, Esq.
				8655 Agusta Street
				Philadelphia, PA 19152-1132 

This mail dispute has been docketed pursuant to Postal Operations Manual (POM 7, August 1, 1996) Section 616.21, which requires the Chief Field Counsel to forward certain unresolved mail disputes to the Judicial Officer for resolution. The mail in dispute is that addressed to Wykked Wytch and Cauldron Records, P. O. Box 265, Skippack, PA 19474-0265. The mail is currently being held by the Skippack Postmaster.

Ipek Warnock submitted a sworn statement and other documents in support of her arguments, in accordance with 39 U.S.C. §965.5, and also submitted rebuttal comments, in accordance with 39 U.S.C. §965.6. Mark Warnock submitted an unsworn statement, along with other documents and some sworn statements from other people. The following findings of fact are based on all the material submitted by the parties, and the material forwarded by the United States Postal Service Law Department, Philadelphia Office.

1. Disputants Ipek Warnock and Mark Warnock were formerly married. They were also both members of a musical group that at some time became known as "Wykked Wytch." They separated in approximately 1995.

2. On August 30, 1991, Ipek Warnock opened P. O. Box 265. On the box application, PS Form 1093, she listed Mark Warnock and two other people as also authorized to receive mail there.

3. Sometime thereafter, the names Wykked Wytch and Cauldron Records were added to the box application so that mail addressed to the band could also be received at P. O. Box 265. In approximately August 1999, Ipek left the band, and this mail dispute arose when both she and Mark directed that mail addressed to the band be sent to them.

4. From the time P. O. Box 265 was opened, until Ipek Warnock left the band, she paid the annual box rent and it was she who primarily received mail addressed to the box.

5. The band, Wykked Wytch, was made up of relatively equal partners. There were no "officers." Likewise, "Cauldron Records" was merely a name used to promote the band. It is not a corporation and has no "officers."

6. Each disputant claims that he/she is still operating the band under the name Wykked Wytch and that the other has no right to do so. On September 13, 1999, the Court of Common Pleas for Montgomery County, Pennsylvania denied a request for preliminary injunction "for the reason that it is unclear which of the parties is entitled to the name Wykked Wytch."

Each disputant has made many assertions of fact, most of which are not supported by any persuasive evidence. However, Ipek Warnock submitted a sworn statement, as is required by 39 C.F.R. §965.5, and Mark Warnock did not. Therefore, her statement is entitled to more weight. I also find her statement, and her supporting documents as to the history of the box rental, more persuasive as to the fact that she made the original box application, continued to pay the annual rental, and regularly received all the mail addressed to the box for several years, until the recent split around August of this year.

Mark Warnock's claim, supported by the statements of other band members, that he founded the band may be true, but that is not enough to give him the right to delivery of the disputed mail. None of the supporting statements claim that Mark is currently operating a band called Wykked Wytch or a business called Cauldron Records. Thus, it cannot be concluded that senders of mail addressed to Wykked Wytch or Cauldron Records probably intend for Mark to receive it.

The rule that mail addressed to an organization "must be delivered according to the order of the organization's president or equivalent official," (Postal Operations Manual, §614.1) does not apply here because the band has no "president or equivalent official." Another general rule in mail dispute cases is that mail should be delivered to the person whom the sender intends should receive it. If there were some persuasive evidence as to the intent of the senders, the fact that a particular person opened and paid rent on a post office box would not be controlling. In this case, however, there is no such evidence. Therefore, because Ipek Warnock has been the person who has regularly received and controlled all the mail addressed to P. O. Box 265 for several years, I find that she has a stronger claim to continue to receive that mail.

This decision deals only with delivery of the mail. It does not attempt to resolve any underlying disputes between the parties. If either party obtains a court order that directs delivery of the mail, postal regulations provide that the mail will be delivered in accordance with such an order. POM §616.3.

The attached delivery order should be issued.

					Bruce R. Houston
					Chief Administrative Law Judge

TO THE POSTMASTER AT:		SKIPPACK, PA 19474-9998

		  RE: 		Mail Dispute Between

				IPEK B. WARNOCK

				     and

				MARK A. WARNOCK

				P.S. Docket No. MD 99-421 

All mail currently being held, or hereafter received, addressed to:

				Judicial Officer

PROPOSED ORDER - NOT ENFORCEABLE UNTIL DATED AND
SIGNED BY THE JUDICIAL OFFICER