Mitchell v. State Farm

652 So. 2d 652, 94 La.App. 1 Cir. 0548, 1995 La. App. LEXIS 661, 1995 WL 112812
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 3, 1995
DocketNos. 94 CA 0548, 94 CA 0549
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 652 So. 2d 652 (Mitchell v. State Farm) 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
Mitchell v. State Farm, 652 So. 2d 652, 94 La.App. 1 Cir. 0548, 1995 La. App. LEXIS 661, 1995 WL 112812 (La. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

J2SHORTESS, Judge.

This case arises out of a tragic car accident at an intersection of two rural highways in Tangipahoa Parish, resulting in the deaths of three teenage boys and the serious injury of others.

September 15,1990, was a clear and sunny day. At approximately 6 p.m., Bradley Jackson and his two friends, Stacey Mitchell and Darren Morgan, set out toward Hammond to attend a friend’s birthday party. Three more friends followed Jackson, who was driving his mother’s pickup truck and leading the entourage through a back-road route to Hammond.

At about the same time, Don Rodrigue left his home with his wife, Melinda Rodrigue, his friend, Steven Krause, and Krause’s date, Melissa Scionneaux. Rodrigue towed an approximately 3,200 pound stock racing car on a homemade trailer behind the pickup truck he was driving. The foursome traveled north on Highway 443 toward Loranger to attend a stock car racing meet.

Jackson was traveling west at about fifty-five to sixty miles per hour down Highway 40 toward the sun. He passed a white Ford Festiva carrying the Clingfrost family, then made an aborted attempt to pass a large, loaded hay truck. On his second attempt to pass the hay truck, Jackson, still traveling fifty-five to sixty miles per hour, encountered the intersection of Highways 40 and 443. Rodrigue was entering the intersection at about thirty to thirty-five miles per hour and was struck broadside by Jackson’s truck. Jackson and Mitchell died at the scene. Morgan, who was seated between Jackson and Mitchell, died about four hours later at a Hammond hospital. All four passengers in Rodrigue’s vehicle were injured, and all except Rodrigue were knocked unconscious upon impact.

The intersection is controlled by a yellow flashing light facing north-south travelers on Highway 443. East-west | gtravelers on Highway 40 face a blinking red light and a stop sign. Jackson, who faced the red blinking light, also was warned of the upcoming intersection by a single yellow no-passing-zone line, which then changes to a double-yellow line on the pavement of the highway, a stop-ahead sign, and a green intersection sign.

Robert Mitchell and Ollie Mitchell, the parents of Stacey Mitchell, sued Rodrigue; his insurer, American National Property and Casualty Company (American National); State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm), which was the uninsured motorist earner for the Jackson vehicle; and J.C. Penney Casualty Insurance Company, which provided uninsured motorist coverage for Stacey Mitchell. Joan Taylor, mother of Darren Morgan and administratrix of his estate, sued Rodrigue, American National, State Farm, Melinda Rodrigue, Melissa Scionneaux, Steven Krause, and Colonial Lloyds, which provided uninsured motorist coverage for Morgan. Steven Krause sued Rodrigue and American National. The three cases were consolidated before trial. All of the insurance defendants except State Farm and American National (defendants) deposited their policy limits in the registry of the court and were released, and the individual defendants were released from personal liability prior to trial.1

The sole question at trial was whether Rodrigue was negligent in the operation of his vehicle and contributed to the cause of the accident. A jury unanimously found Ro-drigue was not negligent. The trial court [655]*655denied a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, and entered judgment dismissing the case. The Mitchells and Taylor (plaintiffs) |4separately appealed, and these appeals were consolidated. Krause did not appeal.2

On appeal, plaintiffs contend the trial court committed reversible error because photographs of the accident scene and the vehicles were admitted into evidence, but were never allowed to be circulated among the jury. The record reflects the trial court did not allow the photographs to be circulated at the outset of the trial when they first were introduced, but did agree to allow the jury to view them later in the trial. The record does not reflect any later request by plaintiffs to circulate the photos or to send them back with the jury to consider during its deliberations. In light of the entire record, the jury could have reached the same result even if it had viewed the photographs.

Plaintiffs also contend the trial court committed manifest error by failing to give their requested jury charge number three. However, this assignment of error was not briefed. All assignments of error must be briefed or this court may consider them abandoned. Uniform Rules, Courts of Appeal, Rule 2-12.4. Because this assignment of error was not briefed, we consider it abandoned.

Plaintiffs argue the jury committed manifest error by concluding Rodrigue was not negligent and in failing to award damages.

The standard of appellate review of the factual findings of a jury is a two-part test: 1) the appellate court must find from the record there is a reasonable factual basis for the finding of the trial court, and 2) the appellate court must further determine that the record establishes that the finding is not clearly wrong (manifestly erroneous). Mart v. Hill, 505 So.2d 1120, 1127 (La.1987). Factual findings should not be reversed on appeal absent manifest error. | ⅞Rosell v. ESCO, 549 So.2d 840 (La.1989). If the trial court or jury’s findings are reasonable in light of the record reviewed in its entirety, the court of appeal may not reverse, even though convinced that had it been sitting as the trier of fact, it would have weighed the evidence differently. Sistler v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co., 558 So.2d 1106 (La.1990). Consequently, when there are two permissible views of the evidence, the fact finder’s choice between them cannot be manifestly erroneous or clearly wrong. Housley v. Cerise, 579 So.2d 973 (La.1991); Sistler, 558 So.2d at 1112.

In brief, plaintiffs contend the central issue on appeal is whether Rodrigue was negligent as a matter of law. This question, however, is the question the jury answered. The appellate court’s role is not to redetermine this question. Rather, our role is to determine whether the jury was clearly wrong in its determination, giving deference to the jury’s findings of fact and credibility determinations.

The trial produced the following testimony. Rodrigue testified that he had driven this route numerous times on his way to Loran-ger. He said he approached the intersection driving approximately forty-five miles per hour, which was ten miles per hour below the posted speed limit. He stated he always drove ten miles per hour below the posted speed limit when he was towing a race car. About one-quarter mile before the intersection, Rodrigue said he reduced his speed to thirty to thirty-five miles per hour. Ro-drigue stated he did not turn his head to look to the right or left, but he could see the intersection ahead and did not see any oncoming vehicles. “When you’re looking straight ahead, you can see the area mapped out. I did not see nothing coming,” Ro-drigue said. He further stated he did not apply his brakes at any time, and the first time he saw Jackson’s vehicle was when it hit him directly under the light.

16Krause was riding in Rodrigue’s truck on the far right-hand side next to the door. The two women were seated between him and Rodrigue. At trial, Krause testified he saw “a flash of something” in the corner of his eye approximately 100 feet prior to the intersection. Krause then realized it was a vehicle that was driving fast and was not stop[656]

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Bluebook (online)
652 So. 2d 652, 94 La.App. 1 Cir. 0548, 1995 La. App. LEXIS 661, 1995 WL 112812, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mitchell-v-state-farm-lactapp-1995.