Hunter v. Meyers

691 So. 2d 318, 1997 WL 157943
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 27, 1997
Docket96 CA 1075
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 691 So. 2d 318 (Hunter v. Meyers) 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
Hunter v. Meyers, 691 So. 2d 318, 1997 WL 157943 (La. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

691 So.2d 318 (1997)

Wallace A. HUNTER, et al.
v.
Gerald J. MEYERS.

No. 96 CA 1075.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

March 27, 1997.

*319 Randolph W. Hunter, Baton Rouge, for Plaintiffs-Appellants Wallace A. Hunter, et al.

Stacey Moak, Baton Rouge, for Defendant-Appellee Gerald J. Meyers.

Before WHIPPLE, PITCHER and FITZSIMMONS, JJ.

FITZSIMMONS, Judge.

Wallace A. Hunter and Julia Hamilton, residents of Louisiana, filed a lawsuit to withdraw, or reduce, the purchase price of a thoroughbred racehorse. The horse was bought from Gerald J. Meyers, a New York resident. The petitioners filed their suit in Louisiana. Mr. Meyers, defendant/appellee, filed a declinatory exception of lack of jurisdiction by the state of Louisiana over the person, and a peremptory exception of prescription. The district court granted the exception of lack of jurisdiction and dismissed the petition. The decision has been appealed by petitioners/appellants to this court. We reverse the decision of the district court, finding there were sufficient minimum contacts with the state of Louisiana to warrant jurisdiction by this state.

FACTS

The following factual information is gleaned from the stipulation of facts presented for purposes of the exceptions. Mr. Meyers, a New York resident, retained the services of a broker, Equistock, Ltd., through its president, Donald Brauer, to sell Mr. Meyers' *320 thoroughbred racehorse, Secret Bounty. Equistock, Ltd. was located in Cooper City, Florida. Upon learning that Secret Bounty was a Louisiana bred race horse,[1] Mr. Brauer, acting on behalf of Mr. Meyers, contacted two trainers in Louisiana to notify them that he was selling a Louisiana thoroughbred racehorse for $25,000.00. One of the trainers, Tom Amos, was the appellants/purchasers' trainer. Mr. Brauer faxed to Tom Amos the relative pedigree and racing performance history of Secret Bounty. Mr. Amos, thereafter, faxed the past performance and pedigree data to the attorney representing the purchasers. On November 2, 1994, Mr. Amos authorized a pre-purchase veterinarian examination. It was performed in New Jersey by a veterinarian suggested by Mr. Meyers' broker.

On November 3, 1994, Mr. Meyers' broker in Florida contacted one of the purchasers, Mr. Hunter, by telephone to discuss Secret Bounty, and the manner in which the purchase money should be wired. That same day, Mrs. Hamilton contacted her bank with instructions to wire to the seller's broker the purchase sum of $25,000, and an additional $2,000 payment to the broker. On November 4,1994, Mr. Meyers executed the original bills of sale before a notary public. The bills of sale were sent by Mr. Meyers to Mr. Brauer, who forwarded the bills of sale, as well as a copy of the agent's cashier's check to Mr. Hunter, one of the purchasers. Mr. Brauer requested that Mr. Hunter sign the bills of sale and return two originals via Federal Express to Mr. Brauer in Florida. Mr. Hunter received the bills of sale in Louisiana on November 8, 1994. He executed them in Louisiana, and returned them to Mr. Meyer's agent in Florida. Mr. Brauer, in turn, forwarded one original executed copy to Mr. Meyers in New York. Simultaneous with the acts of wiring the purchase money and transferring the bills of sale via Federal Express, the seller's agent, Mr. Brauer, arranged and set into motion the transportation of Secret Bounty from New Jersey to Louisiana. Secret Bounty arrived on November 8, 1994.

Thereafter, in December, 1994, Secret Bounty bled during a workout in Louisiana. He was placed on the medication list, and raced in four additional Louisiana races. During the last race, Secret Bounty bled profusely, notwithstanding the fact that he was on the drug "Lasix."[2] The petitioners' suit to rescind, and for damages, is based on Mr. Meyer's legal bad faith in his failure to disclose, prior to the sale, that Secret Bounty had a history of bleeding, and that the thoroughbred had been placed on the New Jersey Racing Commission Lasix list. Mr. Meyers' trainer in New Jersey knew that the horse had bled on October 25, 1994, at which time a veterinarian had authorized the administration of Lasix. Neither Mr. Meyers or his trainer had notified the purchasers that the thoroughbred had recently bled within such a short period prior to the sale. As separate grounds, petitioners allege that following the purchase, Secret Bounty, while in the hospital for surgery in Louisiana, was diagnosed with a ventricular septal defect in the heart, a redhibitory condition which rendered the horse totally unfit for thoroughbred racing.

LAW

An appellate court conducts a "de novo" review of the legal issue of personal jurisdiction over a nonresident by a Louisiana court. Babcock & Wilcox Company v. Babcock Mexico, 597 So.2d 110, 112 (La.App. 4th Cir.), writ denied, 600 So.2d 679 (La. 1992). The intent of Louisiana's long-arm statute is to procedurally extend personal jurisdiction of the Louisiana courts over nonresidents to comport with the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Jasper v. National Medical Enterprises, Inc., 94-1120, p. 4 (La.App. 1st Cir. 6/23/95); 657 So.2d 604, 607, writ denied, 95-1836 (La. 10/27/95); 661 So.2d 1347. The limits of Louisiana's long-arm statute and constitutional due process *321 are, thus, coextensive.[3]Superior Supply Company v. Associated Pipe and Supply Company, 515 So.2d 790, 792 (La.1987).

Louisiana's long-arm statute imposes personal jurisdiction over non-residents in the following pertinent parts:

A. A court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident, who acts directly or by an agent, as to a cause of action arising from any one of the following activities performed by the nonresident:
(1) Transacting any business in this state....
(4) Causing ... damage in this state by an offense or quasi offense committed through an act or omission outside of this state if he ... derives revenue from goods used ... in this state.
B. In addition to the provisions of Subsection A, a court of this state may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident on any basis consistent with the constitution of this state and of the Constitution of the United States.

La. R.S. 13:3201

The United States Supreme Court has distinguished between two categories of personal jurisdiction in analyzing the due process clause—general and specific jurisdiction. Burger King Corporation v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 472-473, 105 S.Ct. 2174, 2182, 85 L.Ed.2d 528 (1985). General jurisdiction over a defendant involves a suit in which the jurisdiction does not arise out of, or relate to, the defendant's contacts with the forum state. Specific jurisdiction occurs when a state exercises personal jurisdiction over a defendant in a suit arising out of or related to the defendant's contact's with the forum. deReyes v. Marine Management and Consulting, Ltd., 586 So.2d 103, 105 (La. 1991). Specific jurisdiction is the issue before us at this time. We, therefore, address the indispensable judicially imposed criterion of "minimum contacts."

The landmark case, International Shoe Company v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 66 S.Ct. 154, 90 L.Ed.

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

Related

Park West Children's Fund, Inc. v. Trinity Broadcasting Network, Inc.
156 So. 3d 682 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2013)
Crummey v. Morgan
965 So. 2d 497 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2007)
Brown v. Bumb
871 So. 2d 1201 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2004)
Spomer v. Aggressor Intern., Inc.
807 So. 2d 267 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
A & L ENERGY, INC. v. Pegasus Group
791 So. 2d 1266 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2001)
A & L ENERGY, INC. v. Pegasus Group
771 So. 2d 248 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)
Griffith v. French
723 So. 2d 1140 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1998)
Ruckstuhl v. Owens Corning Fiberglas Corp.
709 So. 2d 238 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1998)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
691 So. 2d 318, 1997 WL 157943, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hunter-v-meyers-lactapp-1997.