Hayes v. Kelly

625 So. 2d 628, 1993 WL 394652
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 6, 1993
Docket92-1433
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 625 So. 2d 628 (Hayes v. Kelly) 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
Hayes v. Kelly, 625 So. 2d 628, 1993 WL 394652 (La. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

625 So.2d 628 (1993)

Allen HAYES, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Grady L. KELLY, Jr., Sheriff, et al., Defendants-Appellants.

No. 92-1433.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

October 6, 1993.
Rehearing Denied November 12, 1993.

*629 Camille Joseph Giordano, Charles Joseph Yeager, Alexandria, for Allen Hayes.

Dorwan Gene Vizzier, Alexandria, for Grady L. Kelly, Sheriff, et al.

*630 Albin Alexandre Provosty, H. Bradford Calvit, Alexandria, for City of Alexandria.

Before GUIDRY, THIBODEAUX and COOKS, JJ.

THIBODEAUX, Judge.

The plaintiff and all defendants appeal a judgment in favor of plaintiff, Allen Hayes, and against Tommy Hollingsworth in his capacity as Sheriff and Ex-Officio Tax Collector of Rapides Parish, and the City of Alexandria, in solido. The trial court found defendants liable to Hayes for false imprisonment. Defendants appeal liability and fault and Hayes appeals the apportionment of the damage award. For the following reasons, we amend the judgment of the trial court and affirm as amended.

FACTS

This is a case of mistaken identity. On December 28, 1987, Allen Hayes was arrested for receiving stolen goods by Alexandria Police Detectives Frank McCall and Mel Queen. At the time of his arrest, Hayes gave his address, 1427 Hardtner Street, and his nickname, "Booby" to the arresting officers. These were placed on his arrest report and bond information sheet. He was transferred and booked into the Rapides Parish Jail on the same day. His transfer form erroneously reflects Hayes's nickname to be "Bobby."

Prior to Hayes's arrest, an investigation into the murder of Ronald McDaniel was ongoing. Two suspects, Robert Lair and Ephreum Laird, were taken into custody. Robert Lair alleged there was a witness to the murder whose nickname was "Booby." An investigating officer, Lt. Tommy Cicardo, cross-referenced the nickname through the Alexandria Police Department's nickname file and matched it to plaintiff, Allen Hayes. This information was sent to the district attorney's office to inform it that Hayes was a witness but could not be located.

Simultaneous with, but unrelated to the murder investigation, Ephreum Laird was being prosecuted for armed robbery. The prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Jim Buck, noticed a "Bubba Hayes" was subpoenaed as a witness for the defense and suspected he might be the "Booby" sought as the murder witness. Despite being subpoenaed by both parties, "Bubba Hayes" did not appear at trial. As a result, two contempt warrants were issued against him, on September 15, 1987, one with bail set at $50,000.00 and the other with no bail set.

On December 29, 1987, Buck had been notified of plaintiff's presence in the parish jail and sent Mike Rogers, an investigator with the district attorney's office, and Detective Queen to positively identify him as the person wanted under the contempt warrants. Pursuant to this positive, albeit erroneous, identification, Hayes was re-arrested and re-booked on contempt charges. Throughout that procedure, he maintained that the wrong person was being arrested. He was then brought before Judge William Polk for a bond reduction at which time he informed the court that he was not the person named in the warrant. Nevertheless, his bond was not reduced and he was sent back to jail where he remained for a total of 171 days.

On June 17, 1988, after viewing a photograph of Allen Hayes, Robert Lair informed Cicardo that Hayes was not the "Booby" reported as the witness to the murder. That same day, Cicardo and the District Attorney's office had Hayes released. This false imprisonment suit followed.

Trial was held on January 9 and 10, 1992. Judgment was rendered against Tommy Hollingsworth, in his capacity as the Sheriff of Rapides Parish, and the City of Alexandria. The trial court set damages at $55,000.00, and apportioned fault at thirty-three percent to the sheriff, thirty-three percent to the City of Alexandria, and thirty-four percent to the District Attorney of the Ninth Judicial District, Parish of Rapides. Because the parties agreed the District Attorney was statutorily immune from liability, the trial court reduced the judgment by its degree of fault and cast each of the remaining defendants for $18,150.00, plus interest and costs.

ISSUES

All parties have appealed. The City of Alexandria raises the following issues:

*631 (1) Whether it was manifest error for the trial court to find the City's detectives misidentified Hayes as being the person sought after in the contempt warrants;
(2) Whether the City was a legal cause of the false arrest of Hayes because it introduced inaccurate information into the system;
(3) Whether Judge Polk's disregard for Hayes's claims at the reduction of bond hearing was a superseding and intervening cause of Hayes's detention;
(4) Whether the City should be held one-third at fault for Hayes's injuries; and,
(5) Alternatively, if the Sheriff is found not to be liable, whether the claim against the City has prescribed.
The Sheriff raises the following issues:
(1) Whether the sheriff's office had a duty to investigate further into Hayes's identity after Officer Queen identified him as the person named in the warrant;
(2) Whether the sheriff's office was negligent in not inquiring why the non-convicted inmate Hayes was being held for such an extended period of time;
(3) Whether the actions of the Sheriff or his deputies were a cause-in-fact of Hayes's injuries; and,
(4) Whether the refusal by Judge Polk to lower Hayes's bond was a superseding and intervening cause which subsequently excused the Sheriff from liability.
The plaintiff raises one issue on appeal:
(1) Whether the award pursuant to the apportionment of fault was properly made.

LAW & DISCUSSION

A. City of Alexandria

Issue 1

The City argues that the trial judge committed manifest error in finding that Detective Queen positively identified Hayes as the person wanted under the contempt warrants. The finding was based on the arrest report regarding the warrants, filled out by the jailer, Deputy Roger Edwards, and Edwards's testimony. Both reveal that Detective Queen made the positive identification necessary to have Hayes re-arrested. The City contends that Mike Rogers of the district attorney's office was the person who erroneously confirmed Hayes's identity and that Queen was present merely to identify Hayes as the person on whose arrest he assisted.

The essence of the City's argument is that the trial judge erroneously relied on the testimony of Edwards and the accompanying documentation, instead of that given by Queen and Rogers. This argument runs headlong into the rule of law clearly explained in Rosell v. ESCO, 549 So.2d 840 (La.1989) and Stobart v. State of Louisiana, DOTD, 617 So.2d 880 (La.1993), that the trier of fact is afforded great discretion in credibility determinations of witnesses and the factual conclusions drawn from such determinations. The City fails to raise evidence which "contradict[s] the witness's story," or shows that Edwards' version of the events was "internally inconsistent or implausible on its face." Rosell, supra at 844, 845.

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Bluebook (online)
625 So. 2d 628, 1993 WL 394652, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hayes-v-kelly-lactapp-1993.