Deer Field Hunting Club v. Swayze Plantat.

998 So. 2d 1235, 8 La.App. 3 Cir. 313, 2008 La. App. LEXIS 1607, 2008 WL 5158914
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 10, 2008
Docket08-313
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 998 So. 2d 1235 (Deer Field Hunting Club v. Swayze Plantat.) 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
Deer Field Hunting Club v. Swayze Plantat., 998 So. 2d 1235, 8 La.App. 3 Cir. 313, 2008 La. App. LEXIS 1607, 2008 WL 5158914 (La. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

998 So.2d 1235 (2008)

DEER FIELD HUNTING CLUB, INC.
v.
SWAYZE PLANTATION, L.L.C.

No. 08-313.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

December 10, 2008.
Rehearing Denied February 4, 2009.

*1236 Debra Bracey, Lakeland, Louisiana, for Plaintiff/Appellant, Deer Field Hunting Club, Inc.

Thomas J. DeJean, Opelousas, Louisiana, for Defendant/Appellee, Swayze Plantation, L.L.C.

Court composed of JIMMIE C. PETERS, ELIZABETH A. PICKETT, and JAMES T. GENOVESE, Judges.

PETERS, Judge.

Deer Field Hunting Club, Inc. appeals the trial court's denial of its request for the issuance of a permanent injunction restraining Swayze Plantation, L.L.C., from harvesting certain timber and from conducting clearing operations on its property in St. Landry Parish. For the following reasons, we affirm the trial court judgment in all respects.

DISCUSSION OF THE RECORD

There is little dispute regarding the underlying facts giving rise to this litigation. On June 16, 1998, Deer Field Hunting Club, Inc. (Deer Field), through its president, Calvin Olivier, leased a 640 acre tract of land in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, from Dr. Albert E. Hensel, Jr., primarily for the purpose of hunting all legal game. The lease provided for a primary term beginning on July 1, 1998, and ending on June 30, 2001, with an option to renew for an additional three-year period at the expiration of the primary term. On November 13, 2002, Deer Field and Dr. Hensel executed an Amending Agreement which provided for two additional three-year options, *1237 potentially extending the lease through June 30, 2011.

On January 10, 2000, Dr. Hensel transferred ownership of the 640 acres subject to the lease to Swayze Farms, L.L.C. On September 12, 2006, Swayze Farms, L.L.C. transferred ownership of the 640 acres to the present owner, Swayze Plantation, L.L.C. (Swayze). It is not disputed by the litigants that the lease entered into between Deer Field and Dr. Hensel is still in full force and effect.

This litigation began on July 17, 2007, when Deer Field filed pleadings seeking to enjoin Swayze from conducting logging operations on the leased property. On July 23, 2007, the trial court granted Deer Field a preliminary injunction prohibiting Swayze from commencing its logging operations, and setting the matter for hearing on August 10, 2007.

The trial court's minutes reflect that, on August 10, 2007, a hearing was held on a Motion to Strike Expert Witness filed by Deer Field and a Motion for Production of Documents filed by Swayze. Deer Field's motion sought to prohibit Jewel L. Willis, an expert in the fields of forestry and land management, from testifying on behalf of Swayze due to an alleged conflict of interest. Swayze's motion sought production of certain bank statements, log records of the taking of game, and a list of the names and addresses of Deer Field's board members. The trial court denied Deer Field's motion to exclude Mr. Willis and Swayze's motion for Deer Field to produce its bank statements, but ordered Deer Field to produce its log records of the taking of game and a list of the names and addresses of its board members.

The permanent injunction issue then went to trial beginning on September 17, 2007. After a two-day trial, the trial court took the matter under advisement. On October 18, 2007, the trial court issued written reasons for judgment wherein it denied Deer Field's request for a permanent injunction. The trial court signed a judgment to this effect on November 13, 2007, and Deer Field perfected this appeal, asserting the following assignments of error:

A. The [t]rial [c]ourt erred in disregarding [Swayze]'s principal obligations of protecting [Deer Field]'s right to peaceful possession pursuant to [La.Civ.Code art.] 2682[1] and [La. Civ.Code art.] 2700.[2]
B. The [t]rial [c]ourt erred in failing to apply [La.Civ.Code art.] 2690[3] which prohibits [Swayze] from making alterations in the property.
C. The [t]rial [c]ourt erred in [its] interpretation of the lease agreement as allowing for logging and/or clearing operations where no explicit language addresses such operations; the [t]rial [c]ourt erred in failing to apply contract law, specifically [La.Civ.Code *1238 arts.] 2050,[4] 2053,[5] and 2056,[6] in deriving said interpretation of the lease agreement.
D. The [t]rial [c]ourt erred in misapplication or non-application of the principle of irreparable harm to [Deer Field]. Instead, the court applies the concept of irreparable harm to the property itself, or to wildlife habitat, and to hunting production "in the future[.]"
E. The [t]rial [c]ourt erred in determining that [Deer Field] did not prove irreparable harm because it failed to apply Deer Slayers, Inc. [v.] Louisiana Motel and Investment Corp., 434 So.2d 1183 [(La.App. 1 Cir.), writ denied, 440 So.2d 151 (La.1983),] as case precedent which established evidence standards of irreparable harm and [l]essor's warranty of peaceful possession where facts are parallel to this case on appeal.
F. The [t]rial [c]ourt abused its discretion and/or committed manifest error in regard to use of expert testimony in the following particulars:
1. Accepting two witnesses as experts that are representatives of [Swayze]'s planned logging operation, and therefore have a self-interest in the outcome of the trial. Furthermore, the court weighed their testimony equally or even greater than a non-biased expert witness with greater qualifications and has no self-serving interest in the outcome of the trial.
2. Allowing a representative of the logging operation to testify as an expert witness (or as any witness) for [Swayze] over [Deer Field]'s objections when he was not on any witness list either exchanged by counsel for both parties or presented to the court.
3. Accepting an expert witness for [Swayze] with a conflict of interest over the objection of [Deer Field]. [Deer Field] had previously consulted with and was advised on the matter being litigated by this witness' business partner in an active [limited liability company].
4. Considering expert testimony outside the scope of expert's qualifications over the objection of [Deer Field].
5. The trial court abused it's [sic] discretion in rejecting the testimony of [Deer Field]'s expert witness, a Ph.D. in Forest Resources[.]

OPINION

In Mary Moe, L.L.C. v. Louisiana Board of Ethics, 03-2220, pp. 9-10 (La.4/14/04), 875 So.2d 22, 29, the supreme court set forth the standard of review applicable to the issuance of a permanent injunction:

The standard of review for the issuance of a permanent injunction is the *1239 manifest error standard. Parish of Jefferson v. Lafreniere Park Foundation, 98-146 (La.App. 5 Cir. 7/28/98), 716 So.2d 472, 478; Pogo Producing Co. v. United Gas Pipe Line Co., 511 So.2d 809, 812 (La.App. 4th Cir.1987), writ denied, 514 So.2d 1164 (La.1987). The issuance of a permanent injunction takes place only after a trial on the merits in which the burden of proof is a preponderance of the evidence, but a preliminary injunction may be issued on merely a prima facie showing by the plaintiff that he is entitled to relief. Werner Enterprises, Inc. v. Westend Dev. Co., 477 So.2d 829, 832 (La.App. 5th Cir.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
998 So. 2d 1235, 8 La.App. 3 Cir. 313, 2008 La. App. LEXIS 1607, 2008 WL 5158914, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/deer-field-hunting-club-v-swayze-plantat-lactapp-2008.