Glynn P. Gremillion v. Anita Grimes Gremillion

Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided July 7, 2010·No. CA-0010-0005·Unknown

Opinion

STATE OF LOUISIANA

COURT OF APPEAL, THIRD CIRCUIT

10-0005

GLYNN P. GREMILLION VERSUS ANITA GRIMES GREMILLION

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APPEAL FROM THE

TWELFTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT PARISH OF AVOYELLES, NO. 2004-6979 A HONORABLE MARK A. JEANSONNE, DISTRICT JUDGE

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JIMMIE C. PETERS

JUDGE

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Court composed of Jimmie C. Peters, Marc T. Amy, J. David Painter, James T. Genovese, and Shannon J. Gremillion, Judges.

AFFIRMED IN PART; AMENDED IN PART; AND REVERSED IN PART.

Amy, J., concurs in part, dissents in part, and assigns written reasons.

Gremillion, J., concurs in part and dissents in part for the reasons assigned by Amy, J.

Kenneth A. Doggett Attorney at Law P. O. Box 13498 Alexandria, LA 71315-3498 (318) 487-4251 COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF/APPELLEE:

Glynn P. Gremillion

Alfred B. Shapiro Shapiro & Shapiro, L.L.C. 1500 Lobdell Avenue, Suite B Baton Rouge, LA 70806 (225) 928-4193 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT:

Anita Grimes Gremillion

PETERS, J.

This appeal in this continuing and acrimonious domestic dispute relates to issues arising from the community property division between Anita G. Gremillion1 and her former husband, Glynn P. Gremillion. Mrs. Gremillion appeals the trial court’s rejection of her claim for legal interest on an equalizing payment previously awarded to her in the community property division proceedings, as well as the trial court’s award of general and special damages to Mr. Gremillion for damages to the family home caused by Mrs. Gremillion and damages he sustained when Mrs. Gremillion had him arrested for the theft of a community-owned automobile. Mr. Gremillion answered the appeal, seeking an increase in the general damage award. For the following reasons, we affirm in part, amend in part, and reverse in part.

DISCUSSION OF THE RECORD

The litigants were married in Leesville, Louisiana, on July 8, 1995, and, thereafter, established their marital domicile in Simmesport, Avoyelles Parish. They were divorced on June 13, 2005, and the trial court executed a judgment on December 11, 2006, addressing the property issues between them. In the judgment, and among other findings, the trial court determined that Mrs. Gremillion had a monetary community interest in six items of property,2 and valued her interest at $100,489.50. The judgment further awarded Mrs. Gremillion a Mercedes Benz automobile and assigned the indebtedness on the vehicle to her. The trial court judgment satisfied neither party and both appealed various aspects of the judgment. On appeal, this court modified the trial court and remanded the matter to the trial court for further

1 Anita G. Gremillion remarried after her divorce from Glynn P. Gremillion, but for purposes of clarity and consistency we will continue to refer to her as Mrs. Gremillion.

2 The judgment identified these items of property as the Gremillion Feed Mill, a motorcycle, cost reimbursement for Mr. Gremillion’s home, a Valic account, a four-wheeler, and Mr. Gremillion’s personal checking account.

proceedings. Gremillion v. Gremillion, 07-492 (La.App. 3 Cir. 10/3/07), 966 So.2d 1228. Concerning the issues now before us, this court reduced the value of Mrs. Gremillion’s interest in the community property to $98,845.70.

On April 22, 2009, Mrs. Gremillion seized, by writ of fieri facias, Mr.

Gremillion’s undivided interest in three tracts of immovable property located in Avoyelles Parish.3 Mr. Gremillion responded to this action by filing, on May 15, 2009, a petition for injunctive relief and for damages. The trial court ultimately issued a temporary restraining order enjoining the Avoyelles Parish Sheriff from proceeding with the public sale of the seized property, and, after additional filings and procedural maneuvering by the parties, the issues raised by Mr. Gremillion proceeded to trial on August 13, 2009.

Upon completion of the evidentiary phase of the trial, the trial court issued written reasons for judgment rejecting Mrs. Gremillion’s claim for legal interest on the amount recognized as the value of her community interest and awarding Mr. Gremillion $74,564.95 in general and special damages. The trial court executed a written judgment to this effect on September 3, 2009.

The issue regarding the sale of the immovable property seized by Mrs.

Gremillion was not addressed until a hearing held on September 25, 2009. This hearing resulted in an October 1, 2009 judgment enjoining the Avoyelles Parish Sheriff from proceeding with the sale of Mr. Gremillion’s immovable property pending further orders of the trial court.4

3 Mrs. Gremillion had previously filed a motion for a judgment debtor examination, a petition to garnish funds on deposit in the Simmesport State Bank, and a writ of fieri facias seeking to seize two motorcycles and two four-wheelers, but the record contains nothing to suggest the disposition of these filings.

4 The public sale had, by this time, been rescheduled for October 7, 2009.

In separate appeal motions, Mrs. Gremillion appealed both the September 3 and October 1 judgments. In her single specification of error, Mrs. Gremillion asserted that the trial court “erred in denying interest on the Judgment for the equalizing payment awarded to Mrs. Gremillion in the community property partition and erred in enjoining the seizure and sale of the property to execute that judgment. It further erred in awarding damages to Mr. Gremillion.” In his answer to the appeal, Mr. Gremillion seeks an increase in the damages awarded by the judgment of September 3, 2009.

OPINION

Interest Issue In her first issue raised, Mrs. Gremillion argues that the trial court erred by finding that she was not entitled to legal interest on her prior money judgment in the December 11, 2006 judgment. She states that jurisprudence provides that judicial interest from the date of judgment is appropriate in cases where an equalizing payment is awarded in the division of community property, even in instances where the judgment is silent on the award. See Reinhardt v. Reinhardt, 99-723 (La. 10/19/99), 748 So.2d 423; Manno v. Manno, 01-2138 (La.App. 1 Cir. 10/2/02), 835 So.2d 649.

While we agree in principal with the holdings in Reinhardt and Manno, we find that both are distinguishable from the interest issue before us. In Reinhardt, the supreme court was not faced with a judgment silent as to interest. Instead, it was called upon to resolve the conflict among the appellate circuits as to when interest was to begin to run on a judgment. It concluded that interest was to run from date of

judgment and not date of filing. The court in Manno, amended the judgment being appealed to provide for an interest award.

In the matter before us, Mrs. Gremillion argues that she is entitled to an interest award, not on the judgment being appealed, but on a prior final judgment that was silent as to that issue. We rejected this argument in the recent case of Glass v. Glass, 08-1328 (La.App. 3 Cir. 4/1/09), 7 So.3d 118, writ denied, 09-988 (La. 6/19/09), 10 So.3d 743. Specifically, we held that once a judgment becomes final, no court is authorized to amend or modify its terms. See La.Code Civ.P. art. 1951; Stevenson v. State Farm, 624 So.2d 28 (La.App. 2 Cir. 1993).

We find no merit in this argument on the interest issue.

Injunction Issue Next, Mrs. Gremillion argues that the trial court erred in enjoining the sale of Mr. Gremillion’s immovable property5 without requiring Mr. Gremillion to post a security bond for the preliminary injunction. We agree.

In considering this issue, we first note that it is undisputed that Mrs. Gremillion has a money judgment against Mr. Gremillion for at least the difference between $98,845.70 and the total of the judgment rendered against her in the September 3, 2009 judgment. That judgment can be executed on by seizure and sale of Mr. Gremillion’s immovable property pursuant to a writ of fieri facias. La.Code Civ.P. art. 2291. The grounds for enjoining such a sale are found in La.Code Civ.P. art.

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