Godair v. Place Vendome Corp. of America

648 So. 2d 440, 1994 WL 739158
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 22, 1994
Docket93 CA 1818
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 648 So. 2d 440 (Godair v. Place Vendome Corp. of America) 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
Godair v. Place Vendome Corp. of America, 648 So. 2d 440, 1994 WL 739158 (La. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

648 So.2d 440 (1994)

Gary L. GODAIR
v.
PLACE VENDOME CORPORATION OF AMERICA, V. Rae Phillips, Sam Recile, Sam Essmeier and Jack Thornton.

No. 93 CA 1818.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

December 22, 1994.
Rehearing Denied February 2, 1995.

*441 Stanford O. Bardwell, Jr., Baton Rouge, for plaintiff-appellee, Gary L. Godair.

Leslie Leavoy, Jr., DeRidder, for defendant-appellant, Sam Essmeier.

Mesonie Halley, Jr., Lake Charles, for defendant-appellant, Jack Thornton.

Before LOTTINGER, C.J., and SHORTESS and CARTER, JJ.

CARTER, Judge.

This is an appeal from a trial court judgment granting a motion for summary judgment in favor of plaintiff and denying a motion for summary judgment filed by one of the defendants.

FACTS

On or about March 17, 1992, Gary Godair, plaintiff, a DeRidder resident, was approached by Sam Essmeier, also of DeRidder, regarding investment in a project to build a large shopping center at Interstate 10 and Bluebonnet Drive in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, called "Place Vendome." Essmeier furnished to plaintiff certain documents and information booklets reflecting financial information for Place Vendome, discussion of land values and appraisals, market analyses, and biographical information on the principals involved in developing the shopping center project. Plaintiff then had telephone conversations regarding the project with Sam Recile and Jack Thornton.

On March 18, 1992, plaintiff gave Essmeier a cashier's check for $100,000.00 made payable to Place Vendome Corporation of America. In return, plaintiff received from Essmeier a thirty-day promissory note for $200,000.00. Essmeier then delivered the check to Recile in Baton Rouge.

Following plaintiff's investment, he learned of information which caused him to question the validity of the project. On April 2, 1992, plaintiff visited the offices of Place Vendome Corporation of America and tendered the promissory note to Recile. On numerous occasions thereafter, plaintiff again tendered the note and demanded payment thereon. Although the note has matured on its face, plaintiff has not received payment on the note.

On July 28, 1992, plaintiff filed the instant suit for recovery of his investment of $100,000.00 in the project, as well as interest and attorney's fees. Named as defendants in the action are Place Vendome Corporation of America, V. Rae Phillips, Sam Recile, Sam Essmeier, and Jack Thornton.

Plaintiff alleged that the instrument which he received in return for his investment, designated as a "promissory note," is a "security" as defined in LSA-R.S. 51:702(15)(a). Plaintiff also alleged that Recile, Essmeier, and Thornton acted as representatives and authorized salesmen for the securities without being registered with the Office of the Louisiana Commissioner of Securities to sell these securities as required by LSA-R.S. 51:703.[1]

*442 On September 3, 1992, plaintiff filed a motion for preliminary default against Recile and Phillips, and a preliminary default was subsequently entered against them. On September 30, 1992, plaintiff confirmed the default, and a default judgment was entered against Recile and Phillips, awarding plaintiff $100,000.00, plus interest, attorney's fees, and costs.

On January 6, 1993, plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment against Recile, Essmeier and Thornton.[2] Attached to the motion for summary judgment were the following: affidavit of plaintiff, setting forth information which he had testified to at the confirmation hearing; affidavit of Larry Harper;[3] and affidavit of plaintiff's attorney, Stanford O. Bardwell, Jr., stating that he conducted the confirmation proceedings on September 30, 1992, and listing ten different exhibits which had been filed into evidence during the confirmation hearing. Bardwell's affidavit also indicated that copies of the listed exhibits were attached to the memorandum in support of the motion for summary judgment. On March 22, 1993, Thornton filed a motion for summary judgment against plaintiff.

On April 8, 1993, a hearing was held on both plaintiff's and Thornton's motions for summary judgment. At the beginning of the hearing, plaintiff's attorney indicated that he had introduced into evidence at the confirmation of default hearing a number of exhibits. He then stated that he had attached copies of those same exhibits to his memorandum in support of his motion for summary judgment and that he would like to introduce into evidence at the summary judgment hearing some of those same exhibits. The exhibits, as well as depositions of Essmeier and Thornton, were then admitted into evidence.[4]

At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial judge granted plaintiff's motion for summary judgment against Essmeier, Thornton, and Recile, and denied Thornton's motion for summary judgment against plaintiff. The trial judge gave the following oral reasons for judgment:

Well, [LSA-R.S. 51:] 714 provides that any person who violates [LSA-R.S. 51:] 712(A) of the Louisiana Securities Act is liable to the person buying. And certainly there are material issues of fact in dispute as to who was more involved and what roles they played. But they sold securities, participated in the sale of securities without a license, making false representations; end of story; we've got you; liable under the statute. You don't need to get into the other issues.

On April 13, 1993, the trial judge signed a judgment in favor of plaintiff against Recile, Essmeier, and Thornton, jointly and in solido, for $100,000.00, together with interest, attorney's fees, and costs.[5]

Both Essmeier and Thornton appeal from the adverse judgment. Essmeier assigns the following specifications of error:

1. The trial court erred in granting plaintiff's motion for summary judgment without reviewing all of the evidence filed in the record.
2. The trial court erred in granting plaintiff's motion for summary judgment when it considered information which was not a part of the record.
3. The trial court erred in granting plaintiff's motion for summary judgment as there remain genuine issues of material *443 fact, and plaintiff is not entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

Thornton assigns the following specifications of error:

1. The trial court erred in granting plaintiff's motion for summary judgment without reviewing all of the evidence filed in the record.
2. The trial court erred in granting plaintiff's motion for summary judgment when it considered information which was not a part of the record.
3. The trial court erred in granting plaintiff's motion for summary judgment as there remain genuine issues of material fact, and plaintiff is not entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
4. The trial court erred in imposing strict liability on Essmeier and Thornton pursuant to LSA-R.S. 51:712 and 714 when in fact scienter is a necessary element.
5. The trial court erred in denying Thornton's motion for summary judgment.
6. The trial court erred in denying Thornton's motion for new trial.[6]

SUMMARY JUDGMENT

A motion for summary judgment is a procedural device used to avoid a full-scale trial when there is no genuine factual dispute. Ouachita National Bank in Monroe v. Gulf States Land & Development, Inc., 579 So.2d 1115, 1120 (La.App.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
648 So. 2d 440, 1994 WL 739158, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/godair-v-place-vendome-corp-of-america-lactapp-1994.