Hill v. Morehouse Parish Police Jury

653 So. 2d 244, 1995 La. App. LEXIS 823, 1995 WL 150876
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 7, 1995
DocketNo. 26772-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 653 So. 2d 244 (Hill v. Morehouse Parish Police Jury) 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
Hill v. Morehouse Parish Police Jury, 653 So. 2d 244, 1995 La. App. LEXIS 823, 1995 WL 150876 (La. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinions

liBROWN, Judge.

On a back road in Morehouse Parish, 16-year-old Bradd Rudolph drove his car through a “T” intersection and plunged into an adjacent bayou. Two teenagers in the back seat drowned. The parents of both victims brought survival and wrongful death actions against the Morehouse Parish Police Jury and the liability insurer of the Rudolph vehicle. The driver’s insurer was dismissed after settling. This appeal involves the claims of the father of one victim, 15-year-old Michael Hill, against the police jury. The trial court found that the police jury was “cognizan[t] of the potential danger of this intersection” and posted inadequate warnings. The police jury’s fault was set at 20% and the driver’s at 80%. An appeal was taken by the police jury; plaintiff answered the appeal seeking increases in the allocation of fault and damages. We amend and as amended, affirm.

FACTS

The banks of a popular fishing hole on the Ouachita River were known to the police jury as a gathering place for teenagers and appropriately titled the “hangout”. The only access to the “hangout” was by Parish Road 1132 which ran for four miles between the “hangout” and the Point Pleasant Road (Parish Road 1122). These two roads met in a “T” intersection which was marked only by a stop sign for traffic on the “hangout” road. The Point Pleasant Road generally runs alongside Bayou Bartholomew. No double arrow sign, fence, or other distinguishing feature warned motorists returning from the “hangout” of the “T” intersection and the need to turn right or left.

The night of February 20, 1987, was described as cold, dark, and foggy with misty rain. That night, Bradd Rudolph drove Michael Hill and two other teenagers to the “hangout” from a party in town. Rudolph testified that he had consumed at least two seven-ounce “pony” beers at the party. Because one of the pother passengers was facing an 11 p.m. curfew, the group hurriedly left the hangout.

Despite the darkness, road conditions, and 35-mile per hour speed limit, Bradd Rudolph drove at a high rate of speed. On reaching the “T” intersection, Rudolph failed to see the stop sign and drove through the intersection, over a ditch, down an embankment and into Bayou Bartholomew (152.5 feet).1 Although the car sank quickly, Rudolph and the front seat passenger escaped. Michael and the other back seat passenger, a 13-year-old girl, drowned.

Michael’s father, Jerry Wayne Hill, brought both survival and wrongful death actions against Bradd Rudolph’s insurer, the Morehouse Parish Police Jury and its insurer. The driver’s insurer settled and a bench trial proceeded against the police jury and its insurer. The trial court found that the police jury was aware of the danger posed by the intersection and that it breached its duty of care by failing to properly mark the “T” intersection. Fault was allocated 20% to the police jury and 80% to Bradd Rudolph. Plaintiff was awarded $31,587.53, representing 20% of a general damage award of $150,-000 and a special damage award of $7,937.64.

In this appeal, the police jury argues against the assessment of any fault on its part. Plaintiffs answer to the appeal seeks [246]*246an increase in both the apportionment of fault and measurement of general damages.

DISCUSSION

Fault

Appellate courts are charged with a duty to affirm a trial court’s decision absent an error of law or a factual finding which is manifestly erroneous or clearly 1 gwrong. Rosell v. Esco, 549 So.2d 840 (La.1989). In reviewing the fact finder’s conclusions, an appellate court should not question whether they were right or wrong, but whether the conclusions were reasonable. Stobart v. State through DOTD, 617 So.2d 880 (La.1993).

In a written opinion, the trial court found that Bradd Rudolph was “well acquainted” with the road and intersection.2 The trial judge concluded that the teenagers left the “hangout” and raced towards the intersection at an excessive speed approaching 65 miles per hour. Two hours after the accident, Bradd Rudolph’s blood alcohol content measured .05%. The trial court accepted an expert’s estimate that Rudolph’s blood alcohol level was approximately .10% at the time of the accident.3 Thus, the trial judge concluded that Rudolph’s negligence was the primary cause of the accident that led to the death of Michael Hill.

The trial court specifically found that Bradd Rudolph did not intentionally run through the intersection and into the bayou. Experts on both sides testified concerning the adequacy of the single stop sign posted at the intersection. Although, not mandated by uniform guidelines, the experts agreed that caution clearly dictated the placement of the stop sign and that the need for additional warnings was dependent on history and common sense.

As observed by the trial court, “[B]oth parties produced what has now become the mandatory accident expert whose testimony, as usual, was of little help to the court.” The true experts, in this case, were the two More-house Parish road supervisors who testified at trial.

14James Roan, one of the road supervisors, testified to a standard practice, at the time of this accident, of placing double arrow signs at the top of all “T” intersections “dead center ... on the far side of the road.” He also stated that parish workers carried replacement signs in their vehicles. He further noted that the signs were not costly because the police jury made the signs and only purchased the decals. Roan was familiar with the intersection in question and testified that had he been responsible, he would have maintained a double arrow sign at that location. Roan believed the intersection was dangerous.

Garland Myers, another parish road supervisor and the supervisor with responsibility for this “T” intersection at the time of the accident testified to placing double arrow signs at the top of the intersection; however, these signs had been knocked down by vehicles and/or stolen as many as twelve times. Although Meyers checked the intersection about twice a week and “... didn’t hardly miss a week,” he estimated that the double arrow sign had not been replaced for 3 months prior to the accident. Myers knew of at least one prior serious accident occurring at night at this intersection. Although in his pre-trial deposition Myers stated that he believed the intersection was dangerous enough to put up the double arrow sign, he backed off of that opinion at trial.

The trial judge specifically found:

[tjhat the governing parish police jury had prior notice or cognizance of the potential danger of this intersection and had made at least other attempts to improve the situation by the erection of other traffic signals and controls which were nonexistent at the time of this accident, (emphasis added).

[247]*247The trial judge found defendants concurrently liable with Bradd Rudolph for the accident that killed Michael Hill.

The trial court’s factual determinations are supported by the record. Certainly, the driver’s alcohol consumption and speed were significant factors ^contributing to the accident.

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Bluebook (online)
653 So. 2d 244, 1995 La. App. LEXIS 823, 1995 WL 150876, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hill-v-morehouse-parish-police-jury-lactapp-1995.