Cotton v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.

65 So. 3d 213, 2010 La.App. 1 Cir. 1609, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 611, 2011 WL 1835937, 10 La.App. 1 Cir. 1609
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 6, 2011
DocketNo. 2010 CA 1609
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 65 So. 3d 213 (Cotton v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.) 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
Cotton v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 65 So. 3d 213, 2010 La.App. 1 Cir. 1609, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 611, 2011 WL 1835937, 10 La.App. 1 Cir. 1609 (La. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

GUIDRY, J.

IpThe State of Louisiana, through the Department of Transportation and Development (the DOTD), appeals a judgment rendered pursuant to a jury verdict finding it liable for a car accident allegedly caused by a malfunctioning traffic signal at an intersection.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On Christmas Eve 2006, Angela Cotton and her stepson, Blaine Cotton, were traveling south on Highway 661 in Houma, Louisiana to attend midnight mass. On reaching the intersection of Highway 661 and Highway 24, Mrs. Cotton stopped for the red light. According to Mrs. Cotton and her stepson, when the light on the traffic signal turned green, she proceeded to enter the intersection, where her vehicle was struck by a vehicle driven by Kerry A. Carter, who was traveling east on Highway 24. Mr. Carter reported that the traffic signal governing his path of travel also displayed a green light at the time he drove into the intersection and collided with Mrs. Cotton’s vehicle.

On April 5, 2007, Blaine, Mrs. Cotton, and her husband, Andy Cotton, jointly filed a petition for damages against the DOTD,1 and the case was tried before a jury that found the DOTD to be 100 percent at fault for causing the December 24, 2006 accident. The jury awarded Mrs. Cotton $851,973.00 and Blaine $8,204.98 in general and special damages. The jury further awarded Mr. Cotton $20,000 for past and future loss of consortium. The trial court signed a judgment in conformity with the jury’s verdict on January 20, 2010, which the DOTD suspensively appeals.

J^ISSUES PRESENTED FOR REVIEW

The DOTD suspensively appealed the January 20, 2010 judgment, alleging the following:

1. The jury erred in finding that there was a defect in the traffic signal at the intersection of Highway 661 and Highway 24 that caused the traffic signal to display green lights to both Mrs. Cotton and Mr. Carter simultaneously.
[217]*2172. The jury erred in finding that the DOTD had actual or constructive notice of the alleged defect in the traffic signal prior to the accident.
3. The jury erred in finding that Mrs. Cotton’s neck and right shoulder injuries, and related medical treatment, were proximately caused by the December 24, 2006 accident.
4. The jury erred in awarding Mrs. Cotton damages based on a finding that she is partially disabled.
5. The jury erred in awarding Mrs. Cotton past and future loss of wages and loss of earning capacity.

DISCUSSION

ISSUES ONE AND TWO:

Generally, in order to recover damages against the DOTD, a public entity, a plaintiff must prove: (1) the DOTD had custody of the thing that caused plaintiffs damages; (2) the thing was defective because it had a condition that created an unreasonable risk of harm; (3) the DOTD had actual or constructive notice of the defect and failed to take corrective measures within a reasonable time; and (4) the defect was a cause-in-fact of plaintiffs injuries. See La. R.S. 9:2800; La. C.C. arts. 2317 and 2317.1; Netecke v. State, DOTD, 98-1182, p. 7 (La.10/19/99) 747 So.2d 489, 494. The trier of fact’s findings regarding defect and notice under La. R.S. 9:2800 are subject to the manifest error standard of review. See Ricks v. City of Shreveport, 42,675, p. 8 (La.App.2d Cir.10/24/07), 968 So.2d 863, 868.

The DOTD does not dispute that it had custody of the traffic signal at issue; however, it greatly disputes the assertion that the traffic signal was defective or that it had actual or constructive notice of any allegedly defective condition in the |4traffic signal. Our review of the record reveals that there was sufficient evidence presented to support the jury’s findings on these issues.

The DOTD argues that none of the witnesses who testified that the traffic signal displayed green for opposing lanes of travel actually saw the simultaneous display of green. However, the police officers who investigated the December 24, 2006 accident verified the claims of the accident victims that the traffic signal was displaying conflicting green lights. At trial, the investigating police officers, Jarrod Math-erne and Joseph Renfro, testified that they sat in their individual police cars at right angles to the intersection to observe the traffic signal from southbound Highway 661 and eastbound Highway 24, respectively. While so positioned, the officers testified that they both reported the traffic signal to display green at the same time for their observed direction about every fourth light phase. They testified that they observed the traffic signal display simultaneous green lights at least four times on the night of the accident, which testimony supported the claims of Mrs. Cotton, Blaine, and Mr. Carter that the signal was displaying green for their respective directions of travel at the time the accident occurred.

The plaintiffs also presented the testimony of an expert witness in the field of traffic signal engineering, Dr. Peter Par-sonson,2 who posited two reasons why the signal was defective and malfunctioned on the date of the accident. First, Dr. Par-sonson explained that, according to industry and manufacturer standards, the con[218]*218flict monitor controlling a traffic signal should be removed and fully tested (bench tested) to ensure that it is operating properly. Dr. Parsonson described a typical traffic signal as being in a solid state assembly (meaning that it has no moving parts) with semi-conductor components inside that “are supposed to conduct electricity at certain times, [and not] conduct electricity at other times.” |sHowever, he explained “a semi-conductor can fail by shorting through, which means that it is going to conduct, when it [is] not supposed to be conducting electricity.”

Dr. Parsonson testified that since 1968, every single traffic signal installed at an intersection is required to have a conflict monitor installed in a cabinet positioned on the street corner. According to Dr. Par-sonson, the purpose of the conflict monitor is to monitor the voltages that are sent out from the cabinet over field wires to overhead signals. The conflict monitor contains a program card that identifies which signals are compatible, such as displaying a green light for eastbound traffic would be compatible with displaying a green light for westbound traffic. In further explaining how a conflict monitor functions, Dr. Parsonson stated:

[I]t sits there and it watches the voltages that go out over the field wires to the signal heads; and if it sees one hundred twenty (120) volts going out, to two (2) greens that are in conflict with one another, it allows that conflict to take place for as long as one-half (1/2) second. In other words, the conflicting greens will in fact be shown; but for no more than one-half (1/2) second. And we know that drivers cannot react within a half second, and so it is safe. But, the monitor is giving the equipment a half second to recover and to work correctly. But, if that conflict is still being shown to the drivers at that one-half (1/2) second, the conflict monitor forces the intersection to go to flashing operations.

In his expert opinion, and according to articles and books he had reviewed, Dr.

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65 So. 3d 213, 2010 La.App. 1 Cir. 1609, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 611, 2011 WL 1835937, 10 La.App. 1 Cir. 1609, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cotton-v-state-farm-mutual-automobile-insurance-co-lactapp-2011.