Persilver v. Louisiana Department of Transportation

592 So. 2d 1344, 1991 WL 276787
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 8, 1991
DocketCW 90 1257
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 592 So. 2d 1344 (Persilver v. Louisiana Department of Transportation) 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
Persilver v. Louisiana Department of Transportation, 592 So. 2d 1344, 1991 WL 276787 (La. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

592 So.2d 1344 (1991)

Travis PERSILVER
v.
The LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION; State of Louisiana; the City of Franklin, Louisiana; Franklin, Louisiana City Police Department; Chief of Police, David Naquin, Franklin, Louisiana City Police.

No. CW 90 1257.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

August 8, 1991.

*1345 Cynthia C. LeBourgeois, James L. Brazee, Lafayette, for plaintiff.

Julius W. Grubbs, Jr., Haik & Minvielle, New Iberia, for State of La., through the Dept. of Transp. & Development.

Laura K. Austin, Preis & Kraft, Lafayette, for the City of Franklin & Franklin City Police Dept.

Before COVINGTON, C.J., and LANIER and GONZALES, JJ.

LANIER, Judge.

This is a suit for damages in tort by Travis Persilver against the State of Louisiana through the Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD), the City of Franklin (City) and the City of Franklin Police Department (FPD). The City filed a peremptory exception raising the objection of no cause of action. The trial court overruled the exception citing Kendrick v. City of Lake Charles, 500 So.2d 866 (La.App. 1st Cir.1986). The City applied to this court for supervisory writs. We denied the City's application stating "We decline to exercise our supervisory jurisdiction. Relator has an adequate remedy by review on appeal." The Louisiana Supreme Court granted the City's application for supervisory and/or remedial writs and remanded the case to this court for briefing, argument and opinion. Persilver v. City of Franklin, 572 So.2d 83 (La.1991).[1]

FACTS

In his petition, Persilver alleges the following pertinent facts:

II.

On or about the evening of July 13, 1988, Petitioner, TRAVIS PERSILVER, was at the Drink Factory, a drinking establishment in Franklin, Louisiana.

III.

Prior to petitioner leaving the Drink Factory, defendant, the City of Franklin, *1346 through the City of Franklin Police Department, was called to the Drink Factory, by the on-premises manager and/or employees of said establishment in order to control Petitioner whose conduct and physical state indicated that he was intoxicated and a danger to himself and others.

IV.

Two (2) female police officers, whose names are presently unknown, were dispatched to the scene whereupon said officers, instead of arresting petitioner or driving him home, had petitioner give his car keys to a friend of petitioner and left, when they knew or should have known, that petitioner was in need of being controlled and/or brought home and that petitioner's friend had been drinking.

V.

Shortly thereafter, the petitioner obtained his keys and, when operating his vehicle in a westerly direction on Louisiana Highway 87 near Franklin, Louisiana, was caused to leave the aforementioned highway [sic] 87, at a location where there is an unmarked curve, resulting in petitioner proceeding straight ahead, flipping his vehicle several times.

VI.

As a result of said accident, petitioner suffered severe and disabling personal injuries causing permanent bodily impairment and paralysis, scarring, mental anguish, disability and loss of function, pain and suffering, loss of earnings, past and future, and medical expenses, past and future, which physical and mental pain and suffering and medical expenses will continue in the future by reason of the nature and severity of petitioner's injuries and disfigurement, the amounts of said damages to be shown at the trial of this matter.

VII.

At all times pertinent thereto, the police officers called to the Drink Factory were employed by the City of Franklin, through the Franklin City Police Department, both of which are vicariously responsible for the actions of these defendants under the theory of Respondeat Superior.

VIII.

Petitioner alleges that the accident was proximately caused by the negligence of defendants, particularly but not exclusively, for the following, to-wit:
A) City of Franklin and Franklin City Police Department:
1. Failure of Defendant, through its agents, two City of Franklin police officers, to properly exercise its responsibility to Petitioner in that it failed to take Petitioner into custody or take him home when it had the opportunity and after it was aware that Petitioner was a danger to himself and others;
2. Failure to use proper police technique in handling the situation at the Drink Factory;
3. Failure to properly train its police officers relative to protecting the public and responding to situations such as petitioner's;
4. Negligently failing to insure that the petitioner would not obtain his car keys, or that petioner [sic] would be brought home safely, having seen petitioner' [sic] condition.
5. Other acts of negligence that will be shown at the trial of this matter.
. . . . .

NO CAUSE OF ACTION

The City contends the trial court erred in overruling its objection of no cause of action because its police officers did not owe a duty to Persilver to arrest, detain or otherwise restrain him while he was intoxicated in a bar to prevent him from perhaps driving an automobile later and injuring *1347 himself.[2] Persilver replies that a particularized duty was owed to him by the City's police officers because a special relationship developed between them.

The peremptory exception raising the objection of no cause of action questions whether or not the law affords any remedy to the plaintiff under the allegations of the petition. If a remedy is provided, the objection must be overruled. The objection is triable solely on the face of the petition and any attached documents. La. C.C.P. art. 931. All pleaded facts are accepted as true, and any doubts are resolved in favor of the sufficiency of the petition. Succession of Bertaut, 572 So.2d 142 (La. App. 1st Cir.1990), writ denied, 573 So.2d 1111 (La.1991); White v. State, Department of Public Safety and Corrections Office of Motor Vehicle, 569 So.2d 1001 (La.App. 1st Cir.1990).

To assert a cause of action in negligence, a party must allege five separate elements: (1) the defendant had a duty to conform his conduct to a specific standard (the duty element); (2) the defendant's conduct failed to conform to the appropriate standard (the breach element); (3) the defendant's substandard conduct was a cause-in-fact of the plaintiff's injuries (the cause-in-fact element); (4) the defendant's substandard conduct was the legal cause of the plaintiff's injuries (the scope of duty element); and (5) actual damages (the damages element).[3]Fowler v. Roberts, 556 So.2d 1 (La.1989).

*1348 For the purpose of determining the validity of the City's objection, all pleaded allegations of fact are accepted as true. Accordingly, we must accept as true Persilver's allegations that the City, through its police officers, was guilty of negligence that in fact caused his damages. Thus, the only issues presented for our consideration are whether, under the facts alleged, the City owed a duty to Persilver and whether the City's negligence (breach of the duty) was a legal cause of the damage done to Persilver (the risk which caused the injury was within the ambit of the protection of the duty).

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Bluebook (online)
592 So. 2d 1344, 1991 WL 276787, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/persilver-v-louisiana-department-of-transportation-lactapp-1991.