Sandra Duhon Bernard v. Bp America Production Company

Opinion

STATE OF LOUISIANA

COURT OF APPEAL, THIRD CIRCUIT

CW 07-1314

SANDRA DUHON BERNARD, ET AL.

VERSUS

BP AMERICA PRODUCTION COMPANY, ET AL.

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ON SUPERVISORY WRITS FROM THE THIRTY-EIGHTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT PARISH OF CAMERON, DOCKET NO. 10-16704 HONORABLE H. WARD FONTENOT, DISTRICT JUDGE

JAMES T. GENOVESE JUDGE

Court composed of Marc T. Amy, J. David Painter, and James T. Genovese, Judges.

WRIT DENIED.

Donald T. Carmouche Victor L. Marcello John H. Carmouche William R. Coenen, III John S. DuPont, III Brian T. Carmouche Talbot, Carmouche & Marcello Post Office Box 759 Gonzales, Louisiana 70707-0759 (225) 644-7777 COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFFS/RESPONDENTS: Sandra Bernard Duhon, et al. Chad E. Mudd Mudd & Bruchhaus, L.L.C. 410 East College Street Lake Charles, Louisiana 70605 (337) 562-2327 COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFFS/RESPONDENTS: Sandra Bernard Duhon, et al.

H. David Vaughan, II Ellen B. Cogswell Plauché, Smith & Nieset 1123 Pithon Street Lake Charles, Louisiana 70601 (337) 436-0522 COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFFS/RESPONDENTS: Sandra Bernard Duhon, et al.

Patrick S. Ottinger Paul J. Hebert Mark D. Sikes Stuart M. Simoneaud Ottinger Hebert, L.L.C. Post Office Drawer 52606 Lafayette, Louisiana 70505-2606 (337) 232-2606 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/RELATOR: KCS Resources, Inc.

George Arceneaux, III Liskow & Lewis 822 Harding Street Post Office Box 52008 Lafayette, Louisiana 70505 (337) 232-7424 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANTS: Midgard Energy Company, and Range Production Company of Delaware

John Michael Vernon Jere Jay Bice Bice, Palermo & Vernon Post Office Box 2125 Lake Charles, Louisiana 70602 (337) 310-1600 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANTS: BP America Production Company, BP Corporation North America, Inc., and Pan American Petroleum Corporation Robert J. Burns, Jr. Perry, Atkinson, Balhoff, Mengis & Burns, L.L.C. Post Office Drawer 83260 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70884-3260 (225) 767-7730 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANTS: Petroleum Resource Management Co., and CTO Investments

A. J. Gray, III Bart R. Yakupzack The Gray Law Firm Post Office Box 1467 Lake Charles, Louisiana 70602-1467 (337) 494-0694 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANTS: River Oaks Exploration, Inc., Jack Lawton, Inc., William B. Lawton Company, Inc., Raville Resources, Inc., Yentzen Investments, Inc., and William T. Burton Industries, Inc.

Michael J. Mazzone Haynes & Boone, L.L.P. One Houston Center 1221 McKinney Street, Suite 2100 Houston, Texas 77010-2007 (713) 547-2115 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT: Nortex Corporation

Charles A. Mouton Mahtook & Lafleur Post Office Box 3089 Lafayette, Louisiana 70502 (337) 266-2189 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT: Sunoco

Brett Page Furr Taylor, Porter, Brooks & Phillips, L.L.P. Post Office Drawer 2471 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70821-2471 (225) 387-3221 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT: KERRCO, Inc. GENOVESE, J.

Defendant-Relator, KCS Resources, Inc., in this counter writ application,

contends that the application for supervisory writs filed by Plaintiffs-Respondents in

Sandra Duhon Bernard, et al. v. BP America Production Co., et al., 07-1249

(La.App. 3 Cir. XX/XX/XX), ___ So.2d ___, was not timely filed and should be

dismissed. However, the record indicates that the Plaintiffs’ writ was in fact timely

filed because it was postmarked by Federal Express on October 5, 2007, which was

exactly thirty days after the trial court’s ruling denying Plaintiffs’ motion for

reconsideration. Consequently, the counter writ of KCS Resources, Inc., is denied.