Duplechain v. Houston Fire & Casualty Insurance Co.

155 So. 2d 459, 1963 La. App. LEXIS 1167
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 15, 1963
Docket886
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 155 So. 2d 459 (Duplechain v. Houston Fire & Casualty 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
Duplechain v. Houston Fire & Casualty Insurance Co., 155 So. 2d 459, 1963 La. App. LEXIS 1167 (La. Ct. App. 1963).

Opinion

155 So.2d 459 (1963)

Fletcher DUPLECHAIN, Plaintiff and Appellant,
v.
HOUSTON FIRE & CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY et al., Defendant and Appellee.

No. 886.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

July 15, 1963.

*460 John P. Navarre, Oakdale, for plaintiff-appellant.

Mouton, Champagne & Colomb, by George J. Champagne, Jr., Davidson, Meaux, Onebane & Donohoe, by James Diaz, Lafayette, Cavanaugh, Hickman, Brame & Holt, by Frank M. Brame, Lake Charles, for defendant-appellee.

Before FRUGE, TATE and HOOD, JJ.

HOOD, Judge.

This is an action for damages instituted by Fletcher Duplechain, individually and as the administrator of the estate of his minor son, Kenneth Duplechain, for injuries alleged to have been sustained by the child as a result of being struck by an automobile. Three insurance companies were named as defendants, one of which is Central Mutual Insurance Company. Each of said defendants, including Central Mutual Insurance Company, filed a motion for summary judgment, the motion filed by Central being based on allegations that it was not the insurer of the owner or driver of the automobile involved in the accident at the time such accident occurred. After a hearing, the trial court rendered judgment granting the motion filed by defendant Central and dismissing the suit as to that defendant. Plaintiff has appealed.

The sole issue presented is whether the trial court erred in rendering a summary judgment dismissing the suit as to this defendant. Plaintiff contends that the summary judgment should not have been rendered because a genuine issue of material fact exists.

*461 Plaintiff alleges that on March 30, 1961, while his minor son was walking across the highway he was struck by a 1960 Ford Falcon automobile owned by Mrs. Hilda Duhon, and being driven with her consent by Larry J. Richard. He further alleges that Mrs. Duhon had purchased the Falcon automobile less than 30 days before the accident occurred, that prior to purchasing it she owned a 1955 Pontiac automobile, that this Pontiac was traded in on the Falcon, and that defendant Central had issued a policy of liability insurance on the 1955 Pontiac which was in effect at the time of the accident.

Defendant Central, in its motion for summary judgment, alleges that it has never issued a liability insurance policy in favor of Mrs. Duhon covering either a 1955 Pontiac automobile or a 1960 Ford Falcon, and accordingly, that it was not and has never been the liability insurer of the owner or driver of the automobile which was involved in the accident. Central concedes that for the period from May 10, 1960, to May 10, 1961, there was in effect a public liability insurance policy issued by it covering a 1955 Pontiac automobile which was owned by Telesmar Richard, but it alleges that the said Telesmar Richard, and not Mrs. Duhon, was the owner of the Pontiac car and was the insured under that policy.

At the trial of the motion for summary judgment, defendant Central introduced in evidence documentary proof, consisting of certified copies of an application for a certificate of title, a certificate of title of a motor vehicle and an assignment of title, which documents establish that Telesmar Richard purchased a 1955 Pontiac automobile from Bordelon Pontiac Buick Company on December 10, 1959, and that he sold that Pontiac automobile to Oustalet Ford, Inc., on March 18, 1961. Central further produced the same type of documentary proof which establishes that Hilda R. Duhon purchased a 1960 Ford Falcon from Oustalet Ford, Inc., on March 16, 1961.

Also, attached to the motion for summary judgment is a copy of an insurance policy issued by Central to Telesmar Richard, providing public liability and medical payments coverage for the period from May 10, 1960, to May 10, 1961, on the same 1955 Pontiac automobile which was registered in the name of Telesmar Richard. This policy contains a provision to the effect that it covers "* * * a private passenger, farm or utility automobile ownership of any of which is acquired by the named insured during the policy period, provided (1) it replaces a described automobile, or (2) the company insures all private passenger automobiles, * * * owned by the named insured on the date of such acquisition and the named insured notifies the company within 30 days following such date, * *."

At the trial Central further produced affidavits of the Assistant Vice President of that company stating that Central had never issued any policy of liability insurance to Hilda R. Duhon covering a 1955 Pontiac or a 1960 Ford Falcon automobile.

The above-described documentary evidence constitutes convincing proof that Central has never issued a liability insurance policy to Mrs. Duhon on either of the two cars referred to in plaintiff's petition. Although plaintiff offered no counter affidavits or evidence of any kind to rebut this proof, he nevertheless contends, as opposed to the position taken by Central, that Mrs. Duhon was the owner of the 1955 Pontiac automobile which was registered in the name of Telesmar Richard (her father), that the Pontiac was traded in on the 1960 Ford Falcon, and that all of the parties, including Central, intended that Mrs. Duhon rather than her father was to be the insured in the policy issued by Central covering the Pontiac.

To support his claims to that effect plaintiff relies on a part of the testimony of Mrs. Duhon which appears in a discovery deposition taken a few days prior to the hearing. This deposition was taken at the request of *462 and was introduced in evidence at the trial by defendants other than Central. Although Mrs. Duhon's testimony deals largely with other issues, she did state in that deposition that prior to purchasing the Falcon automobile she "owned a '55 Pontiac," and that she permitted her brother, Larry J. Richard, to drive the 1955 Pontiac in emergencies. The only other part of her testimony which relates to the issue presented here is the following:

"Q Up until you purchased the Falcon—did you ever ask anyone to get insurance on the Falcon?
"A Yes, sir.
"Q Who did you ask?
"A Kenneth LeBlanc of Morse.
"Q Had he ever got insurance for you before?
"A Yes, he had.
"Q For the '55 Pontiac?
"A Yes.
* * * * * *
"Q When you asked Kenneth LeBlanc to get insurance, what kind of insurance was that?
"A Liability.
"Q Was that on an automobile?
"A Yes, it was.
"Q When did you ask him to get insurance for you?
"A The same day I purchased the automobile."

Although there is no evidence to that effect, we assume that the 1955 Pontiac automobile to which Mrs. Duhon refers in her testimony is the same car as the one which was registered in the name of her father, Telesmar Richard. With that assumption and considering her statement that she "owned a '55 Pontiac," we can find some logic for concluding that a genuine issue of fact as to the ownership of the 1955 Pontiac automobile does exist.

Neither the testimony of Mrs. Duhon nor any other evidence appearing in the record, however, shows that the Pontiac automobile was traded in on or replaced the 1960 Ford Falcon, or that Kenneth LeBlanc was an agent of defendant Central, or that Central had any knowledge of the fact that Mrs.

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Bluebook (online)
155 So. 2d 459, 1963 La. App. LEXIS 1167, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/duplechain-v-houston-fire-casualty-insurance-co-lactapp-1963.