Melancon v. Trahan

645 So. 2d 722, 1994 WL 541981
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 5, 1994
Docket94-26
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 645 So. 2d 722 (Melancon v. Trahan) 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
Melancon v. Trahan, 645 So. 2d 722, 1994 WL 541981 (La. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

645 So.2d 722 (1994)

Fred MELANCON, et ux., Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
Otto TRAHAN, et al., Defendants-Appellees,
City of Kaplan, Intervenor-Appellant.

No. 94-26.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

October 5, 1994.
Rehearing Denied December 14, 1994.

*723 Joseph Frazer Gaar Jr., Lafayette, for Fred Melancon et ux.

Kraig Thomas Strenge, Lafayette, for Otto Trahan et al.

John Fayne Wilkes III, Lafayette, for City of Kaplan.

Wade Anthony Mouton, Kaplan, for Kenneth Clark.

Before GUIDRY, C.J., and YELVERTON and PETERS, JJ.

GUIDRY, Chief Judge.

This personal injury suit arises from an August 24, 1991 altercation between plaintiff, Fred Melancon, then a police officer employed by the city of Kaplan (Kaplan), and defendant, Otto Trahan. Melancon and his wife, Janell, sued Trahan and his father's homeowner's insurer, Audubon Insurance Company (Audubon), alleging that he was injured as a result of Trahan's physical resistance to arrest. Kaplan intervened in the suit to recover worker's compensation indemnity benefits, medical expenses, and mileage reimbursement paid to or on behalf of Melancon. Prior to trial, the parties stipulated that the total amount of Kaplan's claim was $22,213.75, consisting of $17,267.72 in indemnity benefits and $4,946.03 in medical expenses and mileage reimbursement.

Trial was held on May 5, 1993. However, it was abruptly terminated when the court granted defendants' motion for mistrial because of Melancon's testimony concerning Trahan's prior arrests. Thereafter, defendants filed a motion for summary judgment contending that, because Melancon's arrest of Trahan was unlawful, Trahan lawfully resisted the arrest and owed no duty to Melancon. The trial court agreed and granted *724 summary judgment in favor of Trahan and Audubon and dismissed the Melancons' claims with prejudice.

Plaintiffs and intervenor appeal from this summary judgment. Finding no material issues of fact in dispute, we affirm.

FACTS

The procedural posture of this case is unique in that defendants' motion for summary judgment was filed after testimony and evidence were adduced at the first trial on the merits which ended in a mistrial. The record before us on appeal contains Melancon's testimony from that trial up to the point at which the mistrial was declared. The record also contains seven pages excerpted from Melancon's deposition, four pages excerpted from Trahan's deposition, and the arrest report. From that record, we discern the following facts.

During the evening of August 24, 1991, Melancon and his partner, Chris Gaspard, were assigned patrol duties in Kaplan. The two officers were under orders from the police chief to clear the streets of people because of race riots which occurred the previous night and persistent rumors that armed youths from Abbeville were coming into the Kaplan area. Apparently, the police department was on the alert for further trouble. While walking along the sidewalk abutting Cushing Street (which is commonly known as Main Street), the officers noticed a small group of people congregating on the sidewalk in front of Lefty's Bar. Melancon and Gaspard approached the small group and requested that they either go into the bar or leave the area. What occurred following this initial confrontation is the subject of a factual dispute.

Melancon testified that everyone in the group cooperated with the officers except defendant Trahan, Brent Boutte and Wade Trahan. According to Melancon, the three men refused to move on and said that they did not have to go anywhere. The defendant became loud and obnoxious in his protestations. After warning Trahan "half a dozen times" to move on, Melancon told him that he was under arrest. When Melancon moved to grab Trahan's arm, Trahan pushed him against the building. Melancon's backside, from his head to his buttocks, hit flat against the wall of the building. Thereafter, Trahan was forcibly restrained by Gaspard and arrested. Boutte was also arrested and both men were brought to the police station. They were released the next day.

On cross-examination, Melancon stated that he fell back two and one-half feet against the wall when struck by Trahan's right arm. Trahan was charged with refusing to move on after being told by officers to do so. According to Melancon, he understood La.R.S. 14:108, resisting an officer, as giving him the authority to approach someone on a public street, tell the person to move on, and then arrest the person for not complying with his order. Additionally, Melancon conceded that he did not read Trahan's rights to him in connection with the arrest "because I did not question him". The arrest report completed by Melancon lists the offense committed by Trahan as "Refusing to move on when told to by officers".

Trahan's deposition-excerpted testimony in the record presents a completely different factual scenario. In pertinent part, Trahan was questioned and responded as follows:

Q. So, you did not put up a fight with him?
A. No, sir.
* * * * * *
Q. What did you do?
A. He had me by the arm while he was telling me I was under arrest, so I moved my arm away, and as I moved my arm away to say, you know, "Why was I being arrested," Chris Gaspard, a cop that was with them came from the back and pushed me onto the bar of Lefty's and handcuffed me, put me in the car and then I went to the station.
Q. So, it is your testimony today that you were not resisting arrest?
A. No, sir.
Q. That you were not flailing your arms and jerking around and—
A. I wasn't jerking around.
Q.—kicking and pushing?
*725 A. No, sir, I just moved my arm away from him. He had me by the arm, pulled my arm away from him is all I did. I didn't push him or anything, hit him or nothing like that.

Clearly, Trahan denies resisting the officers after being informed that he was under arrest. However, none of Trahan's testimony, concerning his responses to the officers' advising him to move on, is included in the record.

OPINION

Summary judgment is to be granted "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to material fact, and that mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law". La.C.C.P. art. 966(B). The trial court must first determine whether the supporting documents presented by the mover are sufficient to resolve all material fact issues. If not, summary judgment must be denied in favor of a trial on the merits. A fact is material if its existence or nonexistence may be essential to plaintiff's cause of action under the applicable theory of recovery. In other words, material facts are those which potentially insure or preclude recovery, affect a litigant's ultimate success, or determine the outcome of the legal dispute. Penalber v. Blount, 550 So.2d 577 (La.1989); South Louisiana Bank v. Williams, 591 So.2d 375 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1991), writ denied, 596 So.2d 211 (La.1992).

To satisfy his burden, the mover must show that it is quite clear what the truth is and that no real doubt remains as to the existence of any genuine issue of material fact. The court must closely scrutinize the papers supporting the mover's position, while the opposing papers are to be indulgently treated.

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Bluebook (online)
645 So. 2d 722, 1994 WL 541981, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/melancon-v-trahan-lactapp-1994.