639 Julia St. Partners v. City of New Orleans

246 So. 3d 847
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 2, 2018
DocketNO. 2017–CA–0940
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 246 So. 3d 847 (639 Julia St. Partners v. City of New Orleans) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
639 Julia St. Partners v. City of New Orleans, 246 So. 3d 847 (La. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

In the present matter, Appellees contend that the Chinese pistachio trees at issue in this appeal were planted between 1996 and 1998. Appellees deny that the building has sustained any damage caused by the trees, but argue that Appellant "acquired or should have acquired knowledge of the damage caused by the trees in September 2000," during the pendency of the earlier lawsuit. Appellees argue further that this is a delictual action involving an immovable property subject to one (1)

*849year liberative prescription;2 therefore, Appellant's claim has prescribed because the present suit was filed more than ten (10) years after Appellant acquired or should have acquired knowledge of the damage.

Appellant asserts that, in 1998, the Chinese pistachio trees were planted as saplings and were small, young trees during the pendency of the earlier suit. Appellant further asserts that at issue in this suit is new damage along the Julia Street side of the building where the roots of the now-mature Chinese pistachio trees have reached and damaged the building's foundation. By contrast, the damage in the earlier suit was on the St. Charles side of the building.

On April 27, 2017, Appellees filed a joint exception of prescription. On August 21, 2017, the trial court rendered judgment with incorporated reasons maintaining the exception and dismissing Appellant's claims. It is from this judgment that Appellant appeals.

DISCUSSION

Appellant raises the following assignments of error:

1. Whether the trial court committed manifest error in maintaining Appellees' joint exception of prescription, because Appellees did not introduce any evidence into the record to support its exception? Accordingly, in the absence of evidence, the joint exception of prescription must be decided solely on the facts alleged in Appellant's petition.
2. Alternatively, if this court finds that Appellees did, in fact, introduce evidence into the record, whether the trial court committed manifest error in maintaining Appellees' joint exception of prescription, because there is no evidence that the Chinese pistachio trees, planted as saplings along the Julia Street side of the building between 1996-1998, had the potential to damage the building prior to 2000?

Standard of Review

This Court, in Wells Fargo Fin. Louisiana, Inc. v. Galloway , reasoned that:

[a] peremptory exception generally raises a purely legal question. See Metairie III v. Poche' Const., Inc., [20]10-0353, p. 3 (La. App. 4 Cir. 9/29/10), 49 So.3d 446, 449. Nonetheless, evidence may be introduced in the trial court to support or controvert a peremptory exception of prescription. See La. C.C.P. art. 931 (providing that "evidence may be introduced to support or controvert any of the objections pleaded, when the grounds thereof do not appear from the petition"). The standard of review of a trial court's ruling on a peremptory exception of prescription turns on whether evidence is introduced. State v. Thompson , [20]16-0409, p. 18 (La. App. 4 Cir. 11/23/16), 204 So.3d 1019, 1031 (citing Miralda v. Gonzalez , [20]14-0888, pp. 17-18 (La. App. 4 Cir. 2/4/15), 160 So.3d 998, 1009 ).
When no evidence is introduced, "the judgment is reviewed simply to determine whether the trial court's decision was legally correct." Arton v. Tedesco , [20]14-1281, p. 3 (La. App. 3 Cir. 4/29/15), 176 So.3d 1125, 1128.

2017-0413, pp. 7-8 (La. App. 4 Cir. 11/15/17), 231 So.3d 793, 799-800.

*850Additionally, the Louisiana Supreme Court stated that "[i]n the absence of evidence, the exception of prescription must be decided on the facts alleged in the petition, which are accepted as true." Denoux v. Vessel Mgmt. Servs., Inc. , 2007-2143, p. 6 (La. 5/21/08), 983 So.2d 84, 88. "[T]he standard controlling our review of a peremptory exception of prescription also requires that we strictly construe the statutes against prescription and in favor of the claim that is said to be extinguished." Felix v. Safeway Ins. Co. , 2015-0701, p. 6 (La. App. 4 Cir. 12/16/15), 183 So.3d 627, 631.

Analysis

Presently, Appellant argues that similar to Denoux v. Vessel Mgmt. Servs., Inc. , Appellees in the instant matter "failed to formally admit any evidence" at the hearing on the exception of prescription. Denoux, 2007-2143, p.5 (La. 5/21/08), 983 So.2d at 88. In Denoux, the Louisiana Supreme Court explained that "[e]vidence not properly and officially offered and introduced cannot be considered, even if it is physically placed in the record. Documents attached to memoranda do not constitute evidence and cannot be considered as such on appeal." Id. Further, the "[a]ppellate courts are courts of record and may not review evidence that is not in the appellate record, or receive new evidence." Id. ; La. C. Civ. P. art. 2164. The Louisiana Supreme Court also explained that "[f]ailure to adequately prepare the record by neglecting to offer matters into evidence can alter the outcome of a case, especially in an exception of prescription ..." Cichirillo v. Avondale Indus., 2004-2894, p. 5 La. 11/29/05, 917 So.2d 424, 428, n. 7.

In response, Appellees argue that there was no need to formally introduce evidence into the record at the hearing on the exception of prescription because the evidence, as attached to their memoranda, was made part of the appellate record and was relied on by the trial court. To advance their position, Appellees rely on Fontaine v. Roman Catholic Church of Archdiocese of New Orleans , 625 So.2d 548, 554 (La. App. 4th Cir.

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Bluebook (online)
246 So. 3d 847, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/639-julia-st-partners-v-city-of-new-orleans-lactapp-2018.