Schexnayder v. LeBlanc Hyundai

769 So. 2d 683, 0 La.App. 5 Cir. 177, 2000 La. App. LEXIS 2149, 2000 WL 1335291
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 14, 2000
DocketNo. 00-CA-177
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 769 So. 2d 683 (Schexnayder v. LeBlanc Hyundai) 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
Schexnayder v. LeBlanc Hyundai, 769 So. 2d 683, 0 La.App. 5 Cir. 177, 2000 La. App. LEXIS 2149, 2000 WL 1335291 (La. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinions

LCHEHARDY, Judge.

In this personal injury case, both the plaintiff and a defendant appeal the trial court judgment rendered after trial. For the following reasons, we amend the judgment to reflect the trial court’s findings in its reasons for judgment and affirm as amended.

This case arises out of a one-vehicle accident which occurred at approximately 6:00 a.m. on December 17, 1989, on U.S. Highway 61 in St. Charles Parish. Plaintiff/appellant, Katrina Schexnayder, was traveling westbound on U.S. 61, on her way to work in Norco, Louisiana, when her vehicle left the roadway and ran into the end of a “buried-end treatment” guardrail, causing her 1988 Hyundai Excel to become airborne and tumble. The vehicle came to rest approximately one hundred and ten feet from the initial point of impact, on the north side of the guardrail. During the collision, Ms. Schexnayder was ejected from her vehicle, and sustained severe injuries.

Ms. Schexnayder subsequently filed suit against defendant/appellant, State of Louisiana, through the Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD), and defendant/appellee, LeBlanc Hyundai (Le-Blanc). Plaintiffs theory of liability against LeBlanc was that it had failed to properly repair her vehicle and that it had failed to warn her of dangerous conditions existing on her vehicle. Her theory of liability against the LDOTD was that the design of the guardrail which plaintiffs vehicle struck rendered the guardrail defective and unreasonably dangerous.

The matter proceeded to a five-day bench trial on the merits from November 30, 1998 through December 4, 1998. After taking the matter under advisement, on July 9, 1999, the trial court rendered a judgment and reasons for judgment, finding no liability on behalf of LeBlanc. The trial court assigned thirty percent fault to the DOTD (finding the guardrail unreasonably dangerous), and seventy percent comparative fault to the plaintiff. The trial court further found that as a result of the accident, plaintiff suffered $450,000.00 in general damages, $58.344.13 in past medical expenses, $50,500.00 in future medical expenses, $30,000.00 in future pain and suffering, and $3,120.00 in past lost wages. The total damage award of $591,964.13 was reduced by plaintiffs apportionment of [685]*685fault. Both plaintiff and the DOTD have appealed.

Plaintiff assigns three errors on appeal: the trial court was manifestly erroneous in finding no liability on behalf of LeBlanc Hyundai; the trial court was manifestly erroneous in finding the State, through the Department of Transportation and Development, only thirty percent Hable for plaintiffs damages; and the trial court abused its discretion in awarding plaintiff inadequate damages.

Defendant, the DOTD, also assigns three errors on appeal: the trial court was manifestly erroneous in applying 1977 AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) guideHnes to the guardrail; the trial court was manifestly erroneous in finding that DOTD knew or should have known that the guardrail was unreasonably dangerous; and the trial court was manifestly erroneous in finding DOTD liable to plaintiff for damages. However, the DOTD has failed to brief the first two of its listed errors. Instead, in the Argument section of its brief, the DOTD argues that plaintiffs actions/inactions were the sole cause of her accident; DOTD’s conduct was not a cause-in-fact or proximate cause of plaintiffs accident; and the guardrail in question did not pose an unreasonable risk of harm to the public. All of |4these arguments address one issue — the liability of the DOTD. Therefore, pursuant to La. U.R.C.A. rule 2-12.4, we will only address the sole issue argued by the DOTD in its brief, that the trial court was manifestly erroneous in finding the DOTD liable to plaintiff for damages.

With regards to plaintiffs first assignment of error, Ms. Schexnayder testified at trial that prior to her accident, she experienced problems with the brakes, clutch and steering on her Hyundai Excel. She also testified that she brought her vehicle to LeBlanc for service on five occasions in a two month period prior to her accident, but that the problems with her vehicle were not corrected. She introduced three work orders from LeBlanc showing that its personnel serviced the brakes on October 31, 1989, and the clutch on November 6, 1989, and November 8, 1989. Plaintiff also testified that she brought her vehicle in on two later occasions prior to her accident, but that no work was performed because the service department was full.

With regards to the specifics of her accident, however, plaintiff could not remember much about how it happened.

On appeal, plaintiff claims that she proved at trial that her accident was caused primarily by faulty brakes causing her vehicle to pull to the right, and that LeBlanc was negligent in failing to properly repair her brakes prior to the accident. Plaintiffs expert, Steve Killingsworth, testified at trial that the car’s brakes were faulty. He further testified that the combination of faulty brakes, excessive wear due to underinflation of the tires, and one of the rear tires being oversized, caused the vehicle to pull to the right while braking. However, LeBlanc’s expert, Dr. Geoffrey Germane, disputed Killings-worth’s testimony. Germane testified that any problems with the vehicle’s brakes, as described by Killingsworth, would not have effected the control of the vehicle while braking, and would not have caused it to pull to the right.

It is well settled that a court of appeal may not upset the factual findings of a trial court absent manifest error or unless they are clearly wrong. Rosell v. ESCO, 549 So.2d 840 (La.1989); Arceneaux v. Domingue, 365 So.2d 1330 (La.1978). Where two reasonable views of the evidence exist, the factfinder’s choice between them cannot be manifestly erroneous or clearly wrong. Stobart v. State, 617 So.2d 880, 882-83 (La.1993). In this matter, the trial court gave greater weight to the testimony of Dr. Germane. Upon review, we cannot say Dr. Germane’s view of the evidence is unreasonable.

[686]*686Furthermore, in its reasons for judgment, the trial court noted that the odometer reading of plaintiffs vehicle at the time of the accident showed that plaintiff had driven her vehicle 3,893 miles from the last documented visit to LeBlanc (on November 8, 1989). The trial court found it unlikely that plaintiff could have driven her vehicle that many miles without incident if she were having difficulty controlling the vehicle.

In its reasons, the trial court also noted that the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur did not apply to this case, as there were “numerous other reasons why the vehicle could have left the roadway.” Considering the lack of “affirmative proof as to the cause of the vehicle leaving the roadway,” the trial court found that “[a] mere pulling to the right of the vehicle, which the plaintiff had been able to control, without evidence of some failure which would have suddenly rendered the vehicle uncontrollable, is not sufficient to impose liability upon LeBlanc Hyundai.” Upon review, we find this to be a reasonable conclusion, and therefore find that the trial court was not manifestly erroneous in finding LeBlanc Hyundai free from fault for plaintiffs accident.

Plaintiffs second assignment of error and the DOTD’s assignment of error will be discussed together in this section, as they both address the DOTD’s liability.

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769 So. 2d 683, 0 La.App. 5 Cir. 177, 2000 La. App. LEXIS 2149, 2000 WL 1335291, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schexnayder-v-leblanc-hyundai-lactapp-2000.