O'NEAL v. Blackwell

818 So. 2d 118, 2001 WL 1417825
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 14, 2001
Docket2000 CA 2014
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 818 So. 2d 118 (O'NEAL v. Blackwell) 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
O'NEAL v. Blackwell, 818 So. 2d 118, 2001 WL 1417825 (La. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

818 So.2d 118 (2001)

Janice S. O'NEAL
v.
James H. BLACKWELL, Mrs. Blackwell, Joshua James Blackwell, Louisiana Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company and XYZ Insurance Company

No. 2000 CA 2014.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

November 14, 2001.

*119 Dean M. Esposito, Baton Rouge, for Plaintiff-Appellant Janice S. O'Neal.

Paul Marks, Jr., Baton Rouge, for Defendants-Appellees James H. Blackwell, Mrs. Blackwell, and Louisiana Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company.

Kirk A. Patrick, III, Baton Rouge, for Defendant-Appellee Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company.

Before: FOIL and PETTIGREW, JJ., and KLINE,[1] J. Pro Tem.

PETTIGREW, J.

In this case, plaintiff filed suit seeking to recover damages for injuries she sustained in an automobile accident. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company, and plaintiff has appealed. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On October 3, 1997, plaintiff, Janice S. O'Neal, was operating her 1994 Dodge pickup truck on Ellis Avenue, in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, when she was struck by a 1986 Toyota pickup truck driven by Joshua James Blackwell (erroneously referred to as James Joshua Blackwell in the petition for damages) and owned by James H. Blackwell. Joshua was backing from a private driveway onto Ellis Avenue when he collided with Ms. O'Neal's vehicle.

As a result of the injuries she sustained in the accident, Ms. O'Neal filed the instant suit for damages. Because Joshua was a minor, his parents, James H. Blackwell and Jan Blackwell, were named as defendants. Further, Louisiana Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company, as Mr. *120 Blackwell's insurer, and Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company, as Mrs. Blackwell's insurer, were named as defendants. The defendants all filed answers, generally denying the allegations of Ms. O'Neal's petition.

Thereafter, Southern Farm Bureau filed a motion for summary judgment alleging that the policy issued to Mrs. Blackwell excluded coverage for the injuries suffered by Ms. O'Neal. Southern Farm Bureau alleged that because the vehicle Joshua was operating was furnished for his regular use and he was a member of Mrs. Blackwell's household, its policy did not provide coverage and summary judgment was warranted.

The hearing on Southern Farm Bureau's motion was conducted on April 3, 2000, at which time the court ruled in favor of Southern Farm Bureau and dismissed Ms. O'Neal's claims against Southern Farm Bureau. A judgment in accordance with the court's findings was signed on April 19, 2000. It is from this judgment that Ms. O'Neal has appealed, assigning error to the court's decision to grant summary judgment in favor of Southern Farm Bureau on the coverage issue.

SUMMARY JUDGMENT

A motion for summary judgment is a procedural device used to avoid a fullscale trial when there is no genuine factual dispute. Sanders v. Ashland Oil, Inc., 96-1751, p. 5 (La.App. 1 Cir. 6/20/97), 696 So.2d 1031, 1034, writ denied, 97-1911 (La.10/31/97), 703 So.2d 29. Summary judgment is properly granted if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue of material fact, and that mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. La.Code Civ. P. art. 966 B. Summary judgment is favored and "is designed to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action." La.Code Civ. P. art. 966 A(2).

The initial burden of proof remains with the mover and is not shifted to the non-moving party until the mover has properly supported the motion and carried the initial burden of proof. Only then must the non-moving party "submit evidence showing the existence of specific facts establishing a genuine issue of material fact." See Scott v. McDaniel, 96-1509, p. 5 (La.App. 1 Cir. 5/9/97), 694 So.2d 1189, 1191-1192, writ denied, 97-1551 (La.9/26/97), 701 So.2d 991. If the nonmoving party fails to do so, there is no genuine issue of material fact, and summary judgment should be granted. La. Code Civ. P. arts. 966 and 967.

In determining whether summary judgment is appropriate, appellate courts review evidence de novo under the same criteria that govern the trial court's determination of whether summary judgment is appropriate. Sanders, 96-1751 at 7, 696 So.2d at 1035. Because it is the applicable substantive law that determines materiality, whether a particular fact in dispute is material can be seen only in light of the substantive law applicable to this case. Walker v. Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity (RHO Chapter), 96-2345, p. 6 (La. App. 1 Cir. 12/29/97), 706 So.2d 525, 528.

The issue of whether an insurance policy, as a matter of law, provides or precludes coverage is a dispute that can be resolved properly within the framework of a motion for summary judgment. Frost v. David, 95-0839, p. 4 (La.App. 1 Cir. 5/10/96), 673 So.2d 340, 343. Summary judgment declaring a lack of coverage under an insurance policy may not be rendered unless there is no reasonable interpretation of the policy, when applied to the undisputed material facts shown by the *121 evidence supporting the motion, under which coverage could be afforded. Reynolds v. Select Properties, Ltd., 93-1480, p. 2 (La.4/11/94), 634 So.2d 1180, 1183.

DISCUSSION

Although the record does not contain any opposition by Ms. O'Neal to Southern Farm Bureau's motion for summary judgment, there was documentary evidence introduced at the hearing on April 3, 2001. This evidence consists of the certificate of title and certificate of registration for the 1986 Toyota pickup truck. According to the truck's title and registration, it was acquired by Mr. Blackwell on January 10, 1997, and is registered solely in his name. Also introduced into evidence were the depositions of Mr. Blackwell and Joshua. Thus, in addition to the insurance policy in question,[2] we will also review this documentary evidence to determine whether the policy issued to Mrs. Blackwell by Southern Farm Bureau excluded coverage for the injuries sustained by Ms. O'Neal.

Under the insuring agreement in question, Southern Farm Bureau agrees "to pay on behalf of the insured all sums which the insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages." "Insured" is defined in the policy as "the named insured and any resident of the same household." However, the following exclusion is found in a section entitled "USE OF OTHER AUTOMOBILES":

(d) This insuring agreement does not apply:
(1) to any automobile owned by or furnished for regular use to either the named insured or a member of the same household[.]

Thus, there are two central questions for us to answer: (1) was Joshua a resident or member of the same household as his mother; and (2) was the 1986 Toyota pickup truck furnished for Joshua's regular use.

The first question to be decided is whether Joshua was a resident or member of the same household as his mother, the named insured in the Southern Farm Bureau policy. The courts have held that whether a person is or is not a resident of a household is a question of law as well as a question of fact that is to be determined from the facts of each case. Miley v. Louisiana Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company, 599 So.2d 791, 798 (La. App. 1 Cir.), writ denied, 604 So.2d 1313 *122 (La.1992).

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818 So. 2d 118, 2001 WL 1417825, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/oneal-v-blackwell-lactapp-2001.