Crochet v. Maryland Casualty Insurance

401 So. 2d 439, 1981 La. App. LEXIS 4174
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 26, 1981
DocketNos. 14181, 14182
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 401 So. 2d 439 (Crochet v. Maryland Casualty Insurance) 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
Crochet v. Maryland Casualty Insurance, 401 So. 2d 439, 1981 La. App. LEXIS 4174 (La. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinion

EDWARDS, Judge.

At 5:30 P.M. on September 19, 1978, an automobile accident occurred at the intersection of East Prospect and East Park streets in the city of Houma. Clara P. Verdin and Janice Crochet Robichaux were the drivers. Karen Crochet was a guest passenger in the Robichaux vehicle. Both Crochet and Robichaux were injured.

Alleging that the negligence of Clara Verdin had caused the accident, Karen Crochet brought suit (No. 14181) against Clara P. Verdin; James W. Verdin, Sr., the husband of Clara Verdin; Maryland Casualty Insurance Company, the Verdins’ liability carrier; State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, the uninsured motorist carrier of the Robichaux’s; and Louisiana [441]*441Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company, Crochet’s own uninsured motorist carrier.1 Plaintiff sought $305,000, legal interest and all costs.

In a separate action (No. 14182), Janice Crochet Robichaux, the sister of Karen Crochet, and her husband, Bernard Robichaux, Jr., brought suit against the Verdins, Maryland Casualty Insurance Company and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. Janice Crochet Robichaux sought $175,000 while Bernard Robichaux sought $12,775 on behalf of the community. Plaintiffs also prayed for legal interest and all costs.

In Karen Crochet’s suit, Maryland Casualty named Janice Robichaux and her insurer, State Farm, as third party defendants. Maryland Casualty alleged that the accident was solely due to Janice Robichaux’s negligence or that, in the alternative, the accident was caused by both Janice Robi-chaux and Clara Verdin, in which case contribution was sought from Robichaux and her insurer, State Farm.

In further pleadings filed in the Crochet suit, both State Farm and Southern Farm Bureau named the Verdins as third party defendants.

In the Robichauxs’ case, Maryland Casualty denied liability and, alternatively, pled the contributory negligence of Janice Robi-chaux. Additionally, State Farm named the Verdins as third party defendants.

On November 12, 1979, the two separate cases were ordered consolidated. Trial was by jury2 and was divided into two parts, liability and damages.

At the close of evidence on the matter of liability, the jury was given interrogatories which were answered as follows:

”1. Do you find the defendant, Mrs. Clara Verdin, was negligent in this accident? Yes X ’no_
2. If your answer to Interrogatory No. 1 is "yes", do you find that her negligence was a proximate cause of the accident? Yes X No_
3. If your answer to Interrogatories No. 1 or 2 is "yes", do you find that Mrs. Janice Crochet Robichaux was negligent in this accident? Yes_ No_X
4. If your answer to Interrogatory No. 3 is "yes", do you find her negligence was a proximate cause of the accident? Yes_ No X
5. If your answer to Interrogatories No. 3 and 4 is "no", do you find that Mrs. Janice Crochet Robichaux was contributority negligent in this accident? Yes X No
6. If your answer to Interrogatory No. 5 is "yes", do you find that her contributory negligence was a proximate cause of the accident? Yes X No_
7. Do you find that at the time of the accident Mrs. Clara Verdin was on a mission or acting for the benefit of the community of acquets [442]*442and gains existing between her and her husband, Mr. James W. Verdin, Sr.? Yes_ No X "

The trial court, during a subsequent and lengthy conference in chambers, decided that the jury findings as to interrogatories 5 and 6 were “clearly wrong” and “not in any way supported by the evidence.” The answers to interrogatories 5 and 6 were therefore stricken from the record, following which the trial court instructed the jury to award damages to Janice Crochet Robi-chaux if the jury were convinced plaintiff had proven same.

At the conclusion of evidence pertaining to damages, general verdicts awarding $1,000 to Janice Crochet Robichaux and $12,600 to Karen Crochet were returned. All plaintiffs have appealed. Maryland Casualty and the Verdins have answered the appeal.

It is clear that the interrogatories given to the jury were improper and confusing.3 Although two separate cases were consolidated for trial purposes, the acts on which liability was predicated were the same. Essentially, since Janice Crochet Robichaux was found not negligent, she could not possibly have been found contributorily negligent. That the jury arrived at such an irreconcilable result is proof of their confusion. Interrogatories 5 and 6 should have been deleted as was suggested by plaintiff’s counsel.4

LSA-C.C.P. Art. 1812 provides in part:

“When the answers are inconsistent with each other and one or more is likewise inconsistent with the general verdict, the court shall not direct the entry of judgment but may return the jury for further consideration of its answers or may order a new trial.”

The trial court neither returned the jury for further consideration nor ordered a new trial. Rather, evidence as to damages was heard. Because it is now impossible to determine exactly what the jury intended or how badly they were confused and because the jury rendered a verdict in favor of Janice Crochet Robichaux despite having found her contributorily negligent (which finding the trial court was not free to ignore under LSA-C.C.P. Art. 1812), we must conclude that the interrogatories as propounded were reversible error. Woods v. Cumis Insurance Society Inc., 364 So.2d 213 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1978).

Despite reversible error, the entire suit was heard and this court has the entire record for review. Based on judicial efficiency and the reality of fact review, we decide the case. Gonzales v. Xerox Corporation, 320 So.2d 163 (La.1975).5

Taken as a whole, the record reveals that just prior to the accident, Clara Verdin was driving her car in a southerly direction on East Park Street while Janice Crochet Ro-bichaux was headed in a northerly direction on the same street. At the intersection of East Prospect Street, Mrs. Verdin, without significantly slowing down, attempted to turn left across the lane occupied by the Robichaux car, but the vehicles collided. The right front of Mrs. Verdin’s car was damaged, whereas the entire front of the Robichaux vehicle was damaged.

We find that this accident was caused solely by the negligence of Clara P. Verdin and that neither Karen Crochet nor Janice Crochet Robichaux was negligent in any way. Thus, the only remaining issue is damages.

Janice Robichaux suffered injuries when her head struck the windshield at the moment of impact. Dr. Stephen Heilman, who saw her two days later, noted as symptoms [443]*443headaches, sore neck, contusions, and an abrasion on the skull with a temporary loss of some hair. Dr. Heilman’s diagnosis was a mild cervical strain (as contrasted with a moderate or severe strain) and he prescribed muscle relaxants and analgesics.

Dr. Christopher E. Cenac, an orthopedic surgeon, first saw Robichaux eight days after the accident. His diagnosis was a “resolving acute cervical and lumbosacral strain” which he characterized as “mild.” Dr.

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Bluebook (online)
401 So. 2d 439, 1981 La. App. LEXIS 4174, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crochet-v-maryland-casualty-insurance-lactapp-1981.