Reaux v. City of New Orleans

815 So. 2d 191, 2002 WL 971594
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 20, 2002
Docket2001-CA-1585
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 815 So. 2d 191 (Reaux v. City of New Orleans) 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
Reaux v. City of New Orleans, 815 So. 2d 191, 2002 WL 971594 (La. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

815 So.2d 191 (2002)

Jude REAUX on Behalf of Himself and as Natural Tutor for His Two Minor Children Ranada and Nikisha Reaux
v.
The CITY OF NEW ORLEANS.

No. 2001-CA-1585.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

March 20, 2002.
Writ Denied June 14, 2002.

*193 Allen H. Borne, Jr., New Orleans, LA, for Plaintiff/Appellant.

Robert A. Preston, Jr., Assistant City Attorney, Mavis S. Early, City Attorney, Arlene Lombard, Assistant City Attorney, George C. Wallace, Jr., Chief Deputy City Attorney, New Orleans, LA, for Defendant/Appellant.

(Court composed of Judge CHARLES R. JONES, Judge MICHAEL E. KIRBY, and Judge MAX N. TOBIAS, JR.).

MAX N. TOBIAS, JR., Judge.

This wrongful death, survival, and personal injury action arose out of a vehicular accident that occurred at the intersection of North Derbigny and Forstall Streets in New Orleans. Forstall is a northbound, one-way street; North Derbigny is an intersecting, two-way street, running east and west. On the day of the accident, 2 December 1996, a stop sign facing the eastbound traffic on North Derbigny was missing. As a result, plaintiff, Jude Reaux, who was driving eastward on North Derbigny, proceeded through the intersection and collided with a vehicle travelling northbound on Forstall. Plaintiff, along with his wife, Robin Reaux ("Ms. Reaux"), and their daughter, Ranada Reaux ("Ranada"), who were both passengers in the Reaux vehicle, were taken to Charity Hospital and Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans for treatment following the accident. Plaintiff and Ranada were treated and released. Ms. Reaux, however, died at the hospital on 21 December 1996 from severe internal injuries sustained in the collision.

Plaintiff filed suit individually and on behalf of his minor children, Ranada and Nikisha Reaux, against defendant, the City of New Orleans ("the City"). The Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans intervened in the suit, seeking to recover $91,288.34, the medical expenses incurred by Ms. Reaux as a result of the accident. The parties stipulated at trial that two weeks prior to the Reaux accident the City received notice that the stop sign on North Derbigny at the intersection of Forstall was missing. They further stipulated that the City had actual and constructive notice of an earlier accident that occurred at 12 o'clock noon at the intersection on the same day as the Reaux accident.

Following a bench trial, the trial court gave lengthy reasons for judgment setting forth its findings of fact and conclusions of law. The court concluded that in view of the prior notice, the City had sufficient time to replace the missing stop sign, but failed to do so and, thus, found the City 85% at fault in causing the accident. The court also determined that Forstall was the favored street, and because plaintiff entered the intersection without first ascertaining whether it was safe to do so, he was 15% at fault. The trial court rendered judgment on 28 March 2001 in favor of the plaintiff, awarding him damages of $500,000.00 for the wrongful death of Ms. Reaux, and a total of $742,589.00 for their survival action and personal injury claims, subject to a reduction of 15% for the fault attributable to plaintiff. The judgment also awarded the Medical Center of Louisiana $93,381.55. The City and the plaintiff appeal from that judgment.

At the outset, we note that the trial court's judgment fails to cast anyone, including the City, in judgment, but neither the City nor the plaintiff raised as error the trial court's failure to do so. It is *194 apparent from the trial court's lengthy written reasons accompanying its judgment that it intended to cast the City in judgment, but inadvertently failed to do so in rendering the signed, written judgment.

A judgment is the determination of the rights of the parties in an action and may award any relief to which the parties are entitled. La. C.C.P. art. 1841. Pursuant to La. C.C.P. art. 1918, a final judgment shall be identified as such by appropriate language. Official Revision Comment (a) for La. C.C.P. art. 1918 provides:

In Louisiana the form and wording of judgments is not sacramental. .... Nonetheless, Louisiana courts require that a judgment be precise, definite and certain. See Russo v. Fidelity and Deposit Co., 129 La. 554, 56 So. 506 (1911).

In Borg-Warner Acceptance Corporation v. Whitlow Truck Center, Inc., 508 So.2d 857 (La.App. 5 Cir.1987), the plaintiff sued defendants Whitlow Truck Center, Inc. and Otis J. Whitlow and obtained a money judgment in its favor, but the judgment was defective because it did not name the defendant against whom it was rendered. The trial court, without the benefit of a motion for new trial, amended its judgment to state expressly that Otis J. Whitlow was the party cast. The plaintiff appealed. Citing La. C.C.P. arts. 1951 and 1971, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal concluded that the trial court had no authority to amend the substance of the final judgment without granting a new trial and that the only method for amending the substance of the final judgment was by appeal. The appellate court specifically stated:

As the plaintiff further points out, the original judgment .... is legally incorrect and unenforceable because it did not name the defendant cast. The failure to name any defendant against whom the judgment was rendered in a case with multiple defendants makes the judgment fatally defective, because one cannot discern from its face against whom the judgment may be enforced. [Emphasis added].

508 So.2d at 859.

The case of Scott v. State, 525 So.2d 689 (La.App. 1 Cir.1988) involved a medical malpractice suit against multiple defendants. The trial court gave written reasons for judgment and rendered a judgment in favor of the plaintiffs awarding them damages, but the judgment failed to cast any defendant in judgment. Also, neither the judgment nor the reasons for judgment expressed the degree of fault of each defendant as a percentage. The defendants suspensively appealed. Relying on the decision in Borg-Warner Acceptance Corporation v. Whitlow Truck Center, Inc., supra, the First Circuit Court of Appeal concluded the judgment did not determine the rights of the parties because it did not cast any defendant in judgment and did riot express the degree of fault of each defendant as a percentage as required by La. C.C.P. arts. 1917 and 1812(C). Pursuant to La. C.C.P. art. 2164[1], the appellate court reversed the trial court's judgment and remanded the case to the trial court for correction of the judgment.

Unlike the two above cited cases, which involved multiple defendants, the instant case involves only one defendant, the City. Because the reasons for judgment adequately set forth the trial court's findings of liability, the percentages of fault attributable to each party, and the amount of damages in this case, we find the trial *195 court's failure to specifically cast the City in judgment in its signed 28 March 2001 judgment does not render the judgment fatally defective under the circumstances. Also, we note that the City appealed, assigning as error the trial court's determination of fault. Thus, for all intents and purposes, the City has acknowledged that the trial court intended to cast it in judgment. Therefore, in the interest of judicial economy, we will consider the trial court's judgment as having cast the City in judgment and will amend the judgment accordingly.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
815 So. 2d 191, 2002 WL 971594, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reaux-v-city-of-new-orleans-lactapp-2002.