Ferrell v. Fireman's Fund Ins. Co.

635 So. 2d 1152, 1994 WL 55919
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 14, 1994
Docket92-CA-2116
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 635 So. 2d 1152 (Ferrell v. Fireman's Fund Ins. 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
Ferrell v. Fireman's Fund Ins. Co., 635 So. 2d 1152, 1994 WL 55919 (La. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

635 So.2d 1152 (1994)

Reva Spiegal, Wife of/and Edward R. FERRELL
v.
FIREMAN'S FUND INSURANCE COMPANY, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, et al.

No. 92-CA-2116.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

February 25, 1994.
Opinion Granting Limited Rehearing March 14, 1994.

*1153 Frank J. D'Amico, Darla D'Amico, Frank J. D'Amico, A Professional Law Corp., New Orleans, for Reva Spiegal, Wife of/and Edward R. Ferrell.

Robert M. Johnston, Adams and Johnston, New Orleans, for Fireman's Fund Ins. Co.

Frederick W. Bradley, Kathleen F. Ketchum, Liskow & Lewis, New Orleans, for Kimmie D. Cranford, Enterprise Leasing of New Orleans, and Liberty Mut. Ins. Co.

Before KLEES, WARD and LANDRIEU, JJ.

WARD, Judge.

Mr. and Mrs. Ferrell sued for damages they received in a multi vehicle accident on Interstate 10 in the City of New Orleans. After Mr. and Mrs. Ferrell settled their claims with some of the defendants, the case proceeded to trial against the remaining defendants. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the remaining defendants, finding they were not negligent. Mr. and Mrs. Ferrell have appealed, alleging trial court error led the jury to a manifestly erroneous finding of fact.

Most of the facts are not disputed and when disputed, the difference is insignificant. The accident occurred on August 12, 1985, in the early evening hours at dusk. The weather was rainy, with overcast skies, and visibility was poor, except for the well lit overpass where the accident occurred.

Five vehicles were involved in this accident—a Mazda owned by Ms. Patrice Brown, a Chevrolet driven by Kimmie Cranford, a Ford LTD driven by police officer Reid Noble, a Toyota driven by Edward Ferrell, and a Cadillac driven by Antoine Paudice. A sixth vehicle, not described, and with an unknown driver, allegedly was also involved.

Ms. Patrice Brown was driving home from work when she lost control of her Mazda on the incline of the I-10 overpass at Read Road. She claims the steering mechanism failed, other witnesses said the car "hydroplaned". She struck the left hand guard rail, spun around, and skidded in the left lane of I-10. She claims she came to a stop adjacent to the guard rail, out of the left lane, in the safety accident lane, facing oncoming traffic. The precise position of Brown's vehicle following the spin is in dispute.

Mr. Kimmie Cranford was traveling on I-10 behind Ms. Brown when he observed her car "hydroplane", strike the left rail, spin around and come to a stop facing the oncoming traffic. Cranford says the Mazda stopped in the left hand lane, blocking traffic, not in the safety lane. He stopped his car in the left hand lane behind her car, put on the *1154 emergency signal, got out and went to assist Ms. Brown. He helped push her car from the left lane to the emergency lane before a police car drove up and stopped behind his car.

Officer Reid Noble was driving her Ford LTD unmarked police car on I-10 when she observed traffic congestion on the Read Road overpass. She slowed down and stayed in the left hand lane when she observed Brown's Mazda stopped in the emergency lane and turned in the wrong direction. Cranford's Chevrolet was stopped behind the Mazda, with the emergency lights on. She pulled her Ford LTD to a stop behind Cranford's Chevrolet, and turned her emergency flashing lights on, and radioed headquarters that she was stopping to investigate an accident. All three vehicles were on the elevated portion of the overpass, and at least Cranford and Noble had their flashers on. When Noble found there was no personal injury she told Brown and Crawford to move their vehicles if possible, so as not to cause an accident, and went back to her vehicle to report the situation. An unidentified "phantom" vehicle with a City of New Orleans sticker swerved to avoid her LTD, skidded into the right lane guard rail, and continued on down I-10.

Edward Ferrell was driving his Toyota; his wife was his `guest passenger'. When driving on I-10 he was behind a vehicle in the left hand lane, when that vehicle suddenly swerved to the right. When it swerved he saw Noble's police car in front of him but he could not avoid hitting it. When he hit the police car, it was knocked forward into Cranford's Chevrolet. Ferrell's Toyota came to rest in the middle lane of I-10, where it was struck by Paudice's Cadillac.

Antoine Paudice was driving his Cadillac on I-10. When he saw Ferrell's Toyota stopped, blocking the middle lane of traffic he could not avoid hitting it. Paudice's Cadillac smashed into Ferrell's Toyota. Paudice was injured, but not as severely as Mr. and Mrs. Ferrell. Mr. and Mrs. Ferrell sued the drivers and insurers of the other five vehicles. Mr. Paudice sued the drivers and insurers of the others, including Mr. Ferrell, one of the plaintiffs in this lawsuit.

Prior to trial, Mr. and Mrs. Ferrell settled their claims against Paudice, Officer Reid Noble and the City of New Orleans. There remained for trial their claims against Ms. Brown and her insurer, Fireman's Fund, and against Mr. Cranford and his insurer, Liberty Mutual, and Enterprise Leasing who leased the car to Cranford. The jury returned a verdict absolving Ms. Brown and Mr. Cranford of any fault, and apportioning fault among the four other drivers; Officer Noble, Antoine Paudice, the "phantom vehicle," and the plaintiff himself, Edward Ferrell. The plaintiffs appealed. We have considered the eleven assignments of error and we affirm.

We will first consider those assignments of error that go to evidentiary rulings. During this vigorously contested, lengthy trial there were many evidentiary rulings, not all were correct, nor could they be, considering the numerous objections. Trial judges cannot give a perfect trial, nor are they required to do so. In this case the trial court rulings that were erroneous were few, and none fall in the category of reversible error. Therefore, we do not find any merit in Mr. and Mrs. Ferrell's claim of reversible trial court error as to evidentiary rulings. Two of those arguments deserve attention, however.

Plaintiffs claim that the jury responses to interrogatories were inconsistent because the jury found that Edward Ferrell was negligent, but that his negligence was not a proximate cause of the accident. La. C.C.P. art. 1813(E), states that when jury answers are inconsistent, the court shall not direct the entry of judgment, but may return the jury for further consideration, or may order a new trial. The trial court in this case entered a judgement on the verdict.

We have reviewed the record and conclude that while the jury answers may be inconsistent as to Mr. Ferrell, they are perfectly consistent as to Ms. Brown and Mr. Cranford. *1155 Inconsistency, if any, does not have any relation to, an error in the jury verdict as to Brown and Cranford. Error, if any, is harmless error as to plaintiffs.

Mr. and Mrs. Ferrell also claim the trial court erred when it instructed the jury on the "good samaritan" or "rescuer" doctrine. They claim Cranford was neither. In determining whether a jury charge is proper, the law is clear that the instruction must be a correct statement of the law, and that the instruction must be predicated upon the introduction of some evidence put forth in the case on that issue. Jackson v. West Jefferson General Hospital, 245 So.2d 724, 727 (La.App. 4 Cir.1971). Error on the trial court's part will only be found where there is no evidence which would permit the jury to make a finding on the issue. Hart v. Allstate Ins. Co., 426 So.2d 711, 714 (La.App. 1 Cir. 1982); Guerra v.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
635 So. 2d 1152, 1994 WL 55919, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ferrell-v-firemans-fund-ins-co-lactapp-1994.