GEO-JE'S CIVIC ASS'N INC. v. Reed

525 So. 2d 192, 1988 La. App. LEXIS 983, 1988 WL 39155
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 17, 1988
DocketCW 87 0612
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 525 So. 2d 192 (GEO-JE'S CIVIC ASS'N INC. v. Reed) 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
GEO-JE'S CIVIC ASS'N INC. v. Reed, 525 So. 2d 192, 1988 La. App. LEXIS 983, 1988 WL 39155 (La. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

525 So.2d 192 (1988)

GEO-JE'S CIVIC ASSOCIATION, INC., et al.
v.
William R. REED, et al.

No. CW 87 0612.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

March 17, 1988.

*194 Craig L. Raster, and Walter L. Comeaux, Baton Rouge, for plaintiff-appellee Geo-Je's Civic Ass'n, Inc., et al.

Alex W. Wall, Jr., Baton Rouge, for defendant-appellant William R. Reed, et al.

Before LANIER, CRAIN and LeBLANC, JJ.

LeBLANC, Judge.

This matter is before this court upon the granting of supervisory writs. The judgment under review holds defendant, William Reed, in contempt of court and sentences him to thirty days in parish prison.

The proceedings out of which this judgment arose were instituted by a petition for injunctive relief filed by plaintiffs, Geo-Je's Civic Association, Inc., Geo-Je's Country Estates Subdivision Council and its president, Carl W. Gremillion, Jr. In this suit, plaintiffs sought a permanent injunction enjoining defendants, William and Sherryl Reed, from maintaining a fence on their property in Geo-Je's Country Estates which did not have the approval of the Geo-Je's Subdivision Council as required by applicable subdivision restrictions. After a trial on the merits, the trial court rendered the following judgment on May 22, 1985.

IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED THAT:

An injunction issue herein directed to William R. Reed and Sherryl R. Reed, restraining, joining (sic) and prohibiting them, their agents employees and all persons acting on their behalf, from continuing to maintain the fence along the north side of their property in violation of the subdivision restrictions. It is further ordered that the defendants remove the fence along the north side of their property adjacent to Masson (sic) Drive and move it back to the 25' (twenty-five foot) building line.

Upon appeal by defendants this court affirmed the judgment, Geo-Je's Civic Association, et al v. Reed, CA/85/1138, rendered May 15, 1986, and the Supreme Court subsequently denied defendants' writ application. Accordingly, this judgment is now final.

On November 14, 1986, plaintiffs filed a rule to show cause why defendants should not be held in contempt for refusing to move their fence back to the twenty-five (25) foot building line in accordance with the trial court's May 22, 1985 judgment. A hearing was held on this rule on January 23, 1987. At this hearing defendants argued that they had fully complied with the trial court's judgment by removing the fence on the north side of their property adjacent to Maison Drive. Defendants argued that the terms of the judgment ordered only the removal of the fence on the north side of their property and was not applicable to those portions of the fence on the northwest and west sides of their property adjacent to the cul-de-sac at the end of Maison Drive.

In response to defendants' argument, the trial judge stated it was the intent of his original judgment that defendants move the fence back to the twenty-five (25) foot building line on all of their property, regardless of the direction it faced. The judge then drew a red line on a survey of defendants' property, stating that the court's original judgment applied to all of the area within the circle, which included the northwest and part of the western boundary of defendants' property. However, as indicated by the following remarks, the trial judge did not find defendants guilty of contempt.

I don't think there is any question in my mind or your mind what was meant, and you probably are guilty of contempt. But out of an abundance of caution, I am *195 going to give you another chance. What the Court ordered and what the decisions and issues in the case were was for you to remove any fence that's contained within that red area, that red line, that I drew on exhibit-A which I now make part of this record.
. . . . .
The ruling of the court is that the defendant has been given additional explanation of what the Court [sic] order is and orders him to remove the fence within the area explained to him in Court (sic) and as delineated by exhibit-A which is made part of the record.

Defendants were granted sixty days to comply with the court's order to move the designated portions of the fence.

Upon the request of plaintiffs and without notice to defendants, the trial judge subsequently visited defendants' property on April 2, 1987 and observed that they had not complied with his verbal order of January 23rd. Upon returning to his office that day, the trial judge ordered that the rule for contempt previously issued be made absolute as to William Reed,[1] finding him to be in contempt of court, and ordering him to serve thirty (30) days in parish prison and to pay a fine of $2,000.00. Defendant was not present when this judgment was rendered. Nevertheless, a bench warrant was issued by the judge, pursuant to which defendant was arrested and incarcerated on April 6th. On the same day, defendant's counsel filed a writ application with this court seeking a stay of the trial court's judgment pending a review of defendant's conviction and sentence. That evening, this court granted a stay of defendant's judicial commitment "pending further action by this court." Before this court took any further action, however, the trial court on its own motion recalled the bench warrant and vacated and set aside the commitment it had issued on April 2, 1987.

On April 9, 1987, defendant received notice to appear at a hearing before the trial court on April 16th to show cause why he should not be held in contempt of court. After this hearing was continued upon defendant's request, he was given notice that the hearing had been rescheduled for May 1st. The evidence presented at this hearing established that, although defendant had removed the northwestern portion of the fence, he had not done so within the time period ordered, i.e. sixty days. Further, a small portion of the fence on the western boundary of defendant's property still had not been removed as ordered by the court on January 23rd. The trial court found defendant to be in contempt of court and sentenced him to thirty (30) days in parish prison and a fine of $2,000.00[2]. Defendant was further ordered to remove the western portion of the fence within sixty days.

On May 4, 1987 defendant applied to this court for supervisory writs from the trial court's May 1st judgment. Upon denial of this application, defendant filed a writ application with the Supreme Court. On May 29, 1987 the Supreme Court 506 So.2d 1217, granted writs and issued the following order:

The case is remanded to the Court of Appeal for briefing, argument and opinion to determine the correctness of the trial court's decisions of January 23, 1987 and May 1, 1987.

We will first consider the correctness of the trial court's January 23rd decision. Defendant argues that this decision expanded the scope of the original injunction and constituted a prohibited substantive alteration thereof. We disagree. In construing a trial court judgment, the entire context of the proceedings must be considered and, in the event of any ambiguity, it is proper to consider the pleadings, subject matter of the suit, reasons for judgment and other matters of record in *196 arriving at an interpretation consistent with the law and facts presented. State, Etc. v. Sugarland Ventures, Inc., 476 So. 2d 970, 974 (La.App.

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Bluebook (online)
525 So. 2d 192, 1988 La. App. LEXIS 983, 1988 WL 39155, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/geo-jes-civic-assn-inc-v-reed-lactapp-1988.