Daigle v. Parish of Jefferson

30 So. 3d 55, 8 La.App. 5 Cir. 1310, 2009 La. App. LEXIS 2049, 2009 WL 4639891
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 8, 2009
Docket08-CA-1310
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 30 So. 3d 55 (Daigle v. Parish of Jefferson) 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
Daigle v. Parish of Jefferson, 30 So. 3d 55, 8 La.App. 5 Cir. 1310, 2009 La. App. LEXIS 2049, 2009 WL 4639891 (La. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

JUDE G. GRAVOIS, Judge.

12Plaintiff, Susan Daigle, filed a petition for damages against the Parish of Jefferson for injuries she sustained in a one-car accident. Ms. Daigle has appealed the jury verdict in favor of the Parish. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

FACTS

The accident that is the subject of this appeal occurred on June 25, 1999 at approximately 12:30 a.m. at the intersection of Daniels Road and Oakwood Drive in Terrytown, which is in Jefferson Parish. At that time and location, the car that Ms. Daigle was driving crossed through said intersection, climbed a curb, flew over a drainage canal, and came to rest on a street on the opposite side of the canal.

Ms. Daigle’s trial testimony as to the facts surrounding the accident can be summarized as follows. At the time of the accident, Ms. Daigle was dating Wade Mattei, whom she later married. Mr. Mattei was keeping a dog at his apartment that Ms. Daigle had agreed to sit for a friend. At approximately 7 a.m. on June 24, |s1999, Ms. Daigle received a phone call from Mr. Mattei explaining that the dog he had been keeping for her got lost the night before when he let it out to relieve itself. That same night, sometime after 11 p.m., Ms. Daigle drove around in Mr. Mattei’s neighborhood looking for the lost dog. Later, evidently just before 12:30 a.m., Ms. Daigle saw Mr. Mattei’s vehicle. At that point, she drove away because she did not want to talk to him since she was upset with him for losing the dog. She eventually turned onto Daniels Road. Mr. Mattei followed behind her. Ms. Daigle had lived on the West Bank of Jefferson Parish since she was 16 years old and had been to Mr. Mattei’s apartment several times, but had never driven in this direction on Daniels Road prior to the night of the accident.

The next thing Ms. Daigle remembered after turning onto Daniels Road was that she was involved in the accident in question. She never saw a yellow sign or a stop sign. She had no idea what speed she was going at the time of the accident. She felt a jolt, then remembered Mr. Mattei talking to her. She recalled ankle pain. Emergency medical technicians arrived and removed her from the vehicle. She was transferred to West Jefferson Medical Center and then later to the Medical Center of Louisiana, also known as Charity Hospital. She sustained a severe fracture to her ankle in the accident, requiring numerous surgeries, resulting in residual pain and disability.

On cross-examination, Ms. Daigle was presented with a police report stating that at the time of the accident she was attempting to leave the area at a high rate of speed. She admitted that she told the investigating officer that Mr. Mattei was behind her, but did not recall telling the officer that she feared Mr. Mattei. When confronted with the Emergency Medical Services record stating that she was being “chased by boyfriend,” she testified that she did not recall talking to the emergency medical technicians. When confronted with a medical record from the emergency ^department at West Jefferson Medical Center stating “driving high rate of speed fleeing boyfriend she thought might be violent,” she testified that she did not recall speaking to anyone at West Jefferson. She denied that Mr. Mattei was chasing her at the time of the accident. When confronted with a medical record indicating her blood alcohol level sometime after *58 the accident was .089, she stated that she had not consumed any alcohol the night of the accident and that she did not think it was her blood that was tested for alcohol because of a time discrepancy in the medical records.

Wade Mattei also testified as to the facts of the accident. According to Mr. Mattei, Ms. Daigle was upset when he told her he lost the dog. On the evening of June 24, 1999, he went to a bar and left at about 10:30 or 11:00 o’clock p.m. When he drove to his apartment, he spotted Ms. Daigle’s car. Ms. Daigle turned onto Daniels Road towards Oakwood Drive and he followed her. He tried to call Ms. Daigle but did not speak to her. As Ms. Daigle drove towards the intersection of Daniels Road and Oakwood Drive, he became concerned because he knew the double arrow sign at the end of the street was down. He was fearful that Ms. Daigle would not know the “end of the road was coming.” He then saw Ms. Daigle’s car bounce upward and come to a stop on the street across the canal that is located at said intersection. Mr. Mattei then crossed the canal on the pedestrian bridge nearby and went over to assist Ms. Daigle. He noticed Ms. Daigle’s injured ankle and called 911.

At the time of the accident, Mr. Mattei saw that the double arrow sign that would normally be at the end of the street next to the canal was in fact lying on the ground in the grass next to the canal. He returned to the scene of the accident the next day and took several daytime pictures of the intersection. These photographs | ¿were admitted into evidence. The pictures depict foliage partially obstructing the stop sign at the intersection.

On cross-examination, Mr. Mattei denied that he was chasing Ms. Daigle at the time of the accident. Although Mr. Mattei testified in his deposition that Ms. Daigle was avoiding him, he testified at trial that he did not know she was trying to avoid him. Mr. Mattei admitted that he did not notify anyone with Jefferson Parish when he noticed that the double arrow sign was down days prior to the accident. Mr. Mattei did not recall the time Ms. Daigle was transferred to Charity Hospital.

Deputy Patrick Langley, who investigated the accident on behalf of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office, was not available for trial. His deposition was read to the jury. The police report authored by Deputy Langley was attached to the deposition and published to the jury. Deputy Langley testified that he had worked in the traffic division of the Sheriffs Office for approximately seven of his 14 years as a deputy. He had an independent recollection of this accident. He arrived at the scene while Ms. Daigle was still in the vehicle. He spoke to Ms. Daigle and Mr. Mattei, gathered evidence, and took measurements at the scene. According to Deputy Langley, Ms. Daigle hit the curb at the intersection, cleared the canal, traveling some 40 feet in the air, landed on the other side of the canal, and traveled an additional 115 feet after landing. There were no skid marks, indicating that Ms. Daigle had not made any attempt to stop. Another officer took pictures of the scene and these were admitted into evidence.

Deputy Langley checked Ms. Daigle for sobriety as well as he could and performed the nystagmus gaze test on her. In this test, a subject is asked to follow an object with their eyes and the officer looks for jerking in the eye movements. The result of this test was negative. It did not show signs of impairment. Officer Langley did not smell alcohol on Ms. Daigle.

16According to Deputy Langley, the double arrow sign that had originally been placed between the curb and the canal was found in the grass nearby and was not up *59 at the time of the accident. He had no idea how long it had been down.

Susan Treadway testified that she has worked in the traffic engineering department for the Parish of Jefferson for thirteen years. This department is responsible for the erection and maintenance of traffic signs.

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Related

Passon v. Fields
196 So. 3d 645 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2016)
Casborn v. Jefferson Parish Hospital District No. 1
96 So. 3d 540 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2012)

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Bluebook (online)
30 So. 3d 55, 8 La.App. 5 Cir. 1310, 2009 La. App. LEXIS 2049, 2009 WL 4639891, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/daigle-v-parish-of-jefferson-lactapp-2009.