Godfrey v. Boston Old Colony

763 So. 2d 12, 99 La.App. 4 Cir. 2445, 2000 La. App. LEXIS 678, 2000 WL 310551
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 23, 2000
DocketNo. 99-C-2445
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 763 So. 2d 12 (Godfrey v. Boston Old Colony) 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
Godfrey v. Boston Old Colony, 763 So. 2d 12, 99 La.App. 4 Cir. 2445, 2000 La. App. LEXIS 678, 2000 WL 310551 (La. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinions

h KATZ, Judge.

This matter is again before us except that this time it is on a supervisory writ from a denial by the trial court of the [13]*13second Motion for Summary Judgment filed on behalf of Interstate Fire & Casualty Company and L.J.N., Inc., d/b/a Waldo’s and Craig Napoli (hereinafter referred to as “the defendants”).1

The facts are amply set forth in the opinion of this court on the first Motion for Summary Judgment in Godfrey v. Boston Old Colony Insurance Company, LJN, Inc., d/b/a Waldo’s and Craig Napoli, 97-2568 (La.App. 4 Cir. 5/27/1998), 718 So.2d 441, rehearing denied (Aug. 31, 1998), writ denied, 98-2412 (La.11/20/1998), 729 So.2d 556. There are also certain relevant principles and observations set forth in the prior opinion that set the stage for this second Motion for Summary Judgment:

1. “Waldo’s is not automatically immune from liability under LSA-RS 9:2800.1...we find that the LSA-RS 9:2800.1 immunity does not extend to vendors selling alcoholic beverages to a major between the ages of 18 and 21.” Godfrey at p. 453;2
|22. “We agree, in theory, with the trial court’s finding that, under the applicable jurisprudence, the actions taken by Waldo’s in relation to Godfrey do .. .not qualify as ‘affirmative steps to increase the peril (to the plaintiff)’...the fact that Mr.Napoli allowed Mr. Godfrey to leave with his friends without determining the identity and intoxication level of the driver is insufficient to qualify (as) an ‘affirmative act which increased the peril’ to Mr. Godfrey.’ ...Accordingly, the trial court’s judgment is affirmed to the extent that it relieves Waldo’s of liability based on its relationship to Mr. Godfrey.” Godfrey at p. 454;
3. “The real question to be decided is whether Waldo’s should be held liable to Mr. Godfrey, not as an intoxicated patron, but as a passenger in a vehicle driven by another allegedly-intoxicated patron of the bar — i.e., Mr. Price. Godfrey at p. 454...The true question to be answered is whether Waldo breached any duties in its relationship to Mr. Price which would support imposition of liability for damages caused by Mr. Price’s intoxication. Waldo’s (first) Motion for Summary Judgment does not even address whether Waldo’s can be held liable under general negligence principles for its dealings with Mr. Price; moreover, that issue has not been decided by the trial court...The evidence presented, which focuses on Mr. Godfrey rather-than Mr. Price, is insufficient to determine even the initial inquiry in the general negligence analysis — -i.e., whether Waldo’s actions were a cause-in-fact of Mr. Price’s alleged intoxication, and thus the resulting accident.” Godfrey at p. 455;
|34. “The only record evidence concerning Mr. Price indicates that Mr. Godfrey and Mr. Price had been drinking together virtually all day. One of the other patrons testified that Mr. Price had at least one drink at Waldo’s; others indicated that Mr. Price had numerous drinks at Waldo’s. At least one witness asserted that Mr. Price was not intoxicated when he arrived at Waldo’s, but was definitely intoxicated when he left. Mr. Napoli’s deposition indicates that all the people with Mr. Godfrey, apparently including Mr. Price, “seemed to be relatively sober” when they left. In short, the record presents almost no evidence of Mr. Price’s condition, and only little evidence of Waldo’s dealings with Mr. Price. Under the circum[14]*14stances, Waldo’s has failed to carry its burden of proving that no genuine issues of material fact remain concerning the “ultimate issue” in this case. Summary Judgment is therefore inappropriate.” Godfrey at p. 455;
5. The Court of Appeal concluded that “the trial court judgment in favor of Waldo’s is affirmed to the extent it held that Waldo’s cannot be held liable based on its relationship to Mr. Godfrey. However, the trial court judgment is reversed to the extent it dismisses Godfrey’s action against Waldo’s...” Godfrey at p. 455.

The Court of Appeal then remanded the case for further proceedings but reserved “Waldo’s right to amend its motion to prove that it is entitled to summary judgment based on its relationship to Mr. Price.” Godfrey at p. 455.

Hence, the Motion for Summary Judgment sub judice in which the defendants are seeking summary judgment based on the relationship between the defendants and Mr. Price, i.e., the defendants are asserting that they did not | ¿increase the risk of peril to Mr. Godfrey by serving alcohol to Mr. Price, the driver, such that he was intoxicated at the time he left Waldo’s with Mr. Godfrey.

In their Application for Supervisory Writ of Review of Judgment dated August 27, 1999, the defendants did not attach any factual affidavits or depositions.

The plaintiff submitted in his Opposition to the Defendants’ Application the following exhibits: (1) condensed copy of deposition of John S. Godfrey (2) condensed copy of deposition of Jack Counce (3) condensed copy of deposition of Craig Napoli (4) affidavit of Fred Del Marva (5) coroner’s report (6) affidavit of Dr. William George (7) affidavit of Victor J. Kurzweg, IV.

The defendants make the following statements in the “Conclusion” part of their Application: "... Defendants have followed this Court’s suggestion to amend their Motion for Summary Judgment, and have addressed the sole issue remaining as to the Waldo defendants. Defendants have demonstrated the lack of evidence of an essential element of the plaintiffs claim.”

“The plaintiff has been unable to show, through factual evidence, that Waldo’s committed an affirmative act in its relationship to Richard Price that increased the peril caused by Mr. Price’s intoxication. Plaintiff has merely alleged that Waldo’s caused the intoxication. This is insufficient as a matter of law and as a matter of logic to qualify as an affirmative act. The sole other allegation-that Waldo’s ‘released’ the plaintiff to ride home with an intoxicated driver-is both false and has already been rejected by this Court.”

The defendants are correct in asserting that the plaintiff has the burden of proof at trial to show that the defendants increased the risk of peril to Mr. Godfrey by serving alcohol to Mr. Price even though he may have been intoxicated or was | ñbecoming more intoxicated while drinking at Waldo’s. Therefore, under the 1997 amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure articles on summary judgment, the plaintiff has the burden in opposing the summary judgment to show that there is a genuine issue of material fact with respect to this theory of recovery against defendants. However, this burden does not impose upon the plaintiff the necessity of proving the theory of recovery by a preponderance of the evidence on summary judgment; rather, the plaintiff need only show that there are genuine issues of material fact relating to the theory of recovery that can only be resolved by the fact-finder after a trial on the merits.

This court finds that the plaintiff has met his burden of showing that there are genuine issues of material facts via the depositions, affidavits and reports submitted and that these factual issues can only be resolved by a trier of fact after a trial on the merits.

[15]

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Northside Equities, Inc. v. Hulsey
567 S.E.2d 4 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2002)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
763 So. 2d 12, 99 La.App. 4 Cir. 2445, 2000 La. App. LEXIS 678, 2000 WL 310551, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/godfrey-v-boston-old-colony-lactapp-2000.