Plaisance v. Allstate Insurance Co.

996 So. 2d 691, 8 La.App. 3 Cir. 566, 2008 La. App. LEXIS 1445, 2008 WL 4791894
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 5, 2008
DocketNo. 08-566
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 996 So. 2d 691 (Plaisance v. Allstate Insurance Co.) 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
Plaisance v. Allstate Insurance Co., 996 So. 2d 691, 8 La.App. 3 Cir. 566, 2008 La. App. LEXIS 1445, 2008 WL 4791894 (La. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

PICKETT, Judge.

1 ¿These two consolidated cases arise out of a rear-end collision on Lake Street in Lake Charles on October 20, 2004. In this case, number 08-566, Anna Plaisance, the guest passenger in the lead vehicle, sued Sally C. Daigle, the driver of the following vehicle, and her insurer, Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate). In case number 08-567, James C. Gribble, the driver of the lead vehicle, also sued Daigle and her insurer, Allstate. The trial court found Gribble 75% at fault in the accident and Daigle 25% at fault. The trial court awarded Gribble $2,576.55 in property damages, $2,637.92 in medicals, $2,257.50 in lost wages, and $5,000.00 for pain and suffering. Each award to Gribble was reduced by 75%, the percentage of Gribble’s fault in the accident. Ms. Plaisance was awarded $2,548.44 in medicals and $3,500.00 for general damages. Finding that Gribble’s percentage of fault could not be imputed to his guest passenger, the [693]*693court refused to reduce the award to Plai-sance. Daigle and Allstate appeal arguing three assignments of error: (1) the trial court erred in not reducing the award to Ms. Plaisance to 25% of the total awarded in accordance with the provisions of La. Civ.Code arts. 2323 and 2324; (2) the trial court erred in making an award to Gribble for property damages in that Gribble admitted he had already been paid these damages; and (3) the trial court erred in awarding Gribble lost wages inasmuch as he introduced no independent, supporting documentation of this claim. We reduce the award to Ms. Plaisance by 75%; we annul the property damage award to Mr. Gribble inasmuch as he admitted under oath at trial that he had already been paid by the defendants for his property damage; and we affirm the award of past lost wages to Mr. Gribble.

| oFACTS, LAW, and DISCUSSION

The facts in this case are hotly disputed. The plaintiffs claim their version of the events leading up to the collision is correct and the defendant claims that her version of the events is really what took place. The appellate review of such cases is well settled:

The supreme court set forth the standard of review for an appellate court when considering a factual finding by the trial court in Rosell v. ESCO, 549 So.2d 840, 844-845 (La.1989) (citations and footnote omitted):
It is well settled that a court of appeal may not set aside a trial court’s or a jury’s finding of fact in the absence of “manifest error” or unless it is “clearly wrong,” and where there is conflict in the testimony, reasonable evaluations of credibility and reasonable inferences of fact should not be disturbed upon review, even though the appellate court may feel that its own evaluations and inferences are as reasonable. The appellate review of fact is not completed by reading only so much of the record as will reveal a reasonable factual basis for the finding in the trial court, but if the trial court or jury 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. Where there are two permissible views of the evidence, the factfinder’s choice between them cannot be manifestly erroneous or clearly wrong. In applying the manifestly erroneous — clearly wrong standard to the findings below, appellate courts must constantly have in mind that their initial review function is not to decide factual issues de novo.
When findings are based on determinations regarding the credibility of witnesses, the manifest error-clearly wrong standard demands great deference to the trier of fact’s findings; for only the factfinder can be aware of the variations in demeanor and tone of voice that bear so heavily on the listener’s understanding and belief in what is said. Where documents or objective evidence so contradict the witness’s story, or the story itself is so internally inconsistent or implausible on its face, that a reasonable fact finder would not credit the witness’s story, the court of appeal may well find manifest error or clear wrongness even in a finding purportedly based upon a | credibility determination. But where such factors are not present, and a factfinder’s finding is based on its decision to credit the testimony of one of two or more witnesses, that finding can virtually never be manifestly erroneous or clearly wrong.

[694]*694Guilbeaux v. Housing Authority of the City of Opelousas, 07-1285, p. 3 (La.App. 3 Cir. 3/5/08), 978 So.2d 1132, 1135, writ denied, 08-717 (La.5/30/08), 983 So.2d 898.

With the foregoing in mind we adopt the factual findings of the trial court in regards to the causation of the accident, i.e., that after Ms. Daigle entered Lake Street from West School Street, Mr. Gribble passed Ms. Daigle in the left turn lane while traveling at 40-45 mph. Following his passing maneuver, Mr. Gribble moved back into the outside lane of traffic and braked suddenly, causing Ms. Daigle to rear-end his car. It is undisputed that from the intersection of West School and Lake Streets to the spot of the collision is a distance of less than two blocks (the distance between the intersection of West School and Lake to the intersection of Julius and Lake, the closest intersection to the accident, is described by the trial court as “two short ends of blocks”).

In accordance with its factual findings, the trial court assigned 75% of fault in the accident to Gribble and 25% to Daigle.

In their first assignment of error, the defendants/appellants argue the trial court erred in not reducing its award to Ms. Plaisance to 25% of her total damages. We agree. The trial court correctly stated that Mr. Gribble’s percentage of fault could not be imputed to Ms. Plaisance, his guest passenger. This is a correct statement of the law. However, the reduction in Ms. Plaisance’s award is not based upon any imputation of fault but rather upon the legal relationship between the two tortfea-sors in the accident. The legal relationship between multiple tortfeasors is set forth in La. |fiC.C. arts. 2323 and 2324. That relationship was ably explained by our colleagues of the first circuit in Wooley v. Lucksinger, 06-1167 (La.App. 1 Cir. 5/4/07), 961 So.2d 1228, wherein the court stated as follows:

[Louisiana Civil Code article] 2323 provides as follows:
A. In any action for damages where a person suffers injury, death, or loss, the degree or percentage of fault of all persons causing or contributing to the injury, death, or loss shall be determined, regardless of whether the person is a party to the action or a nonparty, and regardless of the person’s insolvency, ability to pay, immunity by statute, including but not limited to the provisions of R.S. 23:1032, or that the other person’s identity is not known or reasonably ascertainable. If a person suffers injury, death, or loss as the result partly of his own negligence and partly as a result of the fault of another person or persons, the amount of damages recoverable shall be reduced in proportion to the degree or percentage of negligence attributable to the person suffering the injury, death, or loss.
B. The provisions of Paragraph A shall apply to any claim for recovery of damages for injury, death, or loss asserted under any law or legal doctrine or theory of liability, regardless of the basis of liability.
C.

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Bluebook (online)
996 So. 2d 691, 8 La.App. 3 Cir. 566, 2008 La. App. LEXIS 1445, 2008 WL 4791894, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/plaisance-v-allstate-insurance-co-lactapp-2008.