Anthony Misita and Glenn and Linda Torres v. The St. Tammany Parish Government

CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 11, 2019
Docket2018CA1595, 2018CA1596
StatusUnknown

This text of Anthony Misita and Glenn and Linda Torres v. The St. Tammany Parish Government (Anthony Misita and Glenn and Linda Torres v. The St. Tammany Parish Government) 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
Anthony Misita and Glenn and Linda Torres v. The St. Tammany Parish Government, (La. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

STATE OF LOUISIANA

COURT OF APPEAL

FIRST CIRCUIT

NUMBER 2018 CA 1595

4Anl ANTHONY MISITA AND GLENN AND LINDA TORRES

VERSUS

THE ST. TAMMANY PARISH GOVERNMENT

Consolidated with

NUMBER 2018 CA 1596

ANTHONY MISITA

IA JOHN MAUMOULIDES, LAKELOTS, INC., INTREPID, INC., ONE CONSORT INTERNATIONAL, LLC, LAKE RAMSEY DEVELOPMENT AND ST. TAMMANY PARISH GOVERNMENT

Judgment Rendered: ' SEP 1 12019 Appealed from the Twenty -Second Judicial District Court In and for the Parish of St. Tammany, Louisiana Docket Number 2018- 10697 c/ w 2013- 14638

Honorable Richard A. Swartz, Judge Presiding

Louis R. Koerner, Jr. Counsel for Plaintiffs/Appellants, New Orleans, LA Anthony Misita and Glenn and and Linda Torres Pierre V. Miller, II New Orleans, LA

Kelly M. Rabalais Counsel for Defendant/Appellee, Angel M. Byrum St. Tammany Parish Government Deborah S. Henton Mandeville, LA Thomas H. Huval Counsel for Defendants, Covington, LA John Maumolides, Lakelots Inc., Intrepid, Inc., Lake Ramsey Development, Artesian

Utility Company, Inc., and David Guidry

Thomas P. Anzelmo Counsel for Defendants, Christine M. Berger Paul Carroll, Kevin Davis, Joey Lobrano, New Orleans, LA Brian Forstein, and James A. (Red) Thompson

BEFORE: WHIPPLE, C.J., McCLENDON, WELCH, HIGGINBOTHAM, AND PENZATO, JJ.

2 WHIPPLE, C.J.

This is an appeal from a judgment of the Twenty -Second Judicial District

Court in St. Tammany Parish, granting the defendant' s exception of no cause of

action and dismissing the plaintiffs' suit with prejudice. For the following reasons,

we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand with instructions.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On February 9, 2018, Anthony Misita and Glenn and Linda Torres

collectively referred to as " plaintiffs") filed a " Petition for Mandamus, Penalties,

and Attorney' s Fees," naming the St. Tammany Parish Government (" the Parish")

as defendant. Plaintiffs' mandamus claims are related to separate claims for

damages asserted by plaintiffs against the Parish and other defendants regarding

alleged flooding issues on their properties in St. Tammany Parish. In their

mandamus petition, plaintiffs asserted that they were entitled to certain documents

sought pursuant to a public records request relevant to the flooding issues, but that

the Parish had failed to produce the documents as required for compliance with the

Public Records Act.' Thus, plaintiffs sought writs of mandamus ordering the

Parish to produce the requested records.'

In response, the Parish filed various exceptions, including a peremptory

exception raising the objection of no cause of action. In support of its exception,

the Parish contended that plaintiffs were not entitled to institute this action because

the Parish had not denied plaintiffs' request for records or refused to respond, but

instead timely provided an estimate of the time reasonably necessary to respond.

Additionally, the Parish contended that it had previously reproduced or made

available for inspection many of the requested records in response to a 2014 public

records request by plaintiffs, which earlier request contained many identical or

LSA- R.S. 44: 1 et seq.

2The mandamus suit was later consolidated with the property damage suit.

3 very similar requests as plaintiffs' public records request that forms the basis of

this mandamus suit.

At the hearing on the exceptions, counsel for the Parish argued that

plaintiffs' petition did not allege that plaintiffs had been denied records and,

further, that the Parish had in fact complied with the Public Records Act when it

responded to plaintiffs that collection and review of the requested records would

take an estimated six months.' At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court

stated that it would sustain the exception of no cause of action, finding that the

Parish had complied with plaintiffs' public records request by providing a deadline

within which it would respond. Thus, by judgment dated March 21, 2018, the

court sustained the Parish' s exception of no cause of action and dismissed

plaintiffs' petition with prejudice.'

From this judgment, plaintiffs now appeal, contending that the trial court

erred in: ( 1) failing to utilize the proper standard for consideration of an exception

of no cause of action, which led to the erroneous granting of the exception; ( 2)

failing to offer plaintiffs an opportunity to amend their petition to correct any

alleged defect; and ( 3) failing to state clear reasons for the granting of the

exception or to state why plaintiffs were not offered an opportunity to amend their

pleadings.

In connection with their appeal, plaintiffs filed a Motion to Supplement the

Record on Appeal, attaching certain documents they purportedly received from the

Parish in response to the public records request, including " determination letters"

dated September 14, 2018 and October 19, 2018. Plaintiffs assert that the Parish' s

3Counsel for the Parish noted that one of its response letters was attached to plaintiffs' petition.

In the judgment, the trial court also overruled the exception of no right of action and decreed that the exception of prematurity was moot. Additionally, plaintiffs were cast in judgment for the Parish' s court costs associated with defending the mandamus action.

L! responses in the correspondence are inconsistent with the pleadings and oral

representations made by the Parish to the trial court and that the letters, being

official responses from the Parish, are therefore relevant to the issues before this

court.

The Parish filed a Motion to Strike, opposing the supplementation request

and requesting that this court strike any reference in plaintiffs' briefs that are

related to facts and evidence not a part of the appellate record. The Parish

contends that plaintiffs are attempting to introduce documents that postdate the

perfection of this appeal and that pertain to public records requests unrelated to the

judgment on appeal.

We will address the motions prior to considering the merits of the appeal.

MOTION TO SUPPLEMENT AND MOTION TO STRIKE

An appellate court must render any judgment which is just, legal, and proper

upon the record on appeal. LSA- C. C. P. art. 2164. The record on appeal is that

which is sent by the trial court to the appellate court and includes the pleadings,

court minutes, transcripts, jury instructions ( if applicable), judgments, and other

rulings, unless otherwise designated. As an appellate court, we have no

jurisdiction to review evidence that is not in the record on appeal, and we cannot

receive new evidence. See La. C. C.P. art. 2127 and 2128; Official Revision

Comment ( d) for La. C. C. P. art. 2127; Niemann v. Crosby Development Compal,

LLC, 2011- 1337 ( La. App. 1st Cir. 5/ 3/ 12), 92 So. 3d 1039, 1044. Because the

documents that plaintiffs seek to have supplemented into the appellate record

clearly postdate the judgment on appeal and clearly were not considered by the

trial court below, the motion to supplement is denied.

Turning to the motion to strike, pursuant to Uniform Rules— Courts of

Appeal, Rule 2- 12. 2( C), the language used in briefs shall be free from insulting,

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Anthony Misita and Glenn and Linda Torres v. The St. Tammany Parish Government, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/anthony-misita-and-glenn-and-linda-torres-v-the-st-tammany-parish-lactapp-2019.