Stuart v. City of Morgan City

504 So. 2d 934
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 4, 1987
DocketCA 85 1575
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 504 So. 2d 934 (Stuart v. City of Morgan City) 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
Stuart v. City of Morgan City, 504 So. 2d 934 (La. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

504 So.2d 934 (1987)

Gary Dale STUART
v.
CITY OF MORGAN CITY, Parish of St. Mary and State of Louisiana.

No. CA 85 1575.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

March 4, 1987.

*935 Kevin Patrick Monahan, Law Office of Raymond Charles Vinet, Baton Rouge, for plaintiff.

Robert M. Mahony, Onebane, Donohoe, Bernard, Torian, Diaz, McNamara & Abell, Lafayette, for City of Morgan City and USF & G.

Cassandra Simms, Yolanda Johnson and Charles L. Patin, Jr., La. Dept. of Justice, Baton Rouge, for State of La., defendants and third party plaintiffs.

Before GROVER L. COVINGTON, C.J., and LANIER and ALFORD, JJ.

LANIER, Judge.

This is a suit for damages in tort in which the plaintiff alleges he dove into a lake at a public park, struck his head on the lake bottom and severed his spinal cord. Made defendants were the City of Morgan City (City), the Parish of St. Mary (Parish) and the State of Louisiana (State). The City answered and pled the defenses of assumption of risk and comparative negligence. The State answered, pled the defenses of comparative negligence and assumption of risk and filed a third party demand against the City for indemnification under a lease agreement. The Parish and its insurer, United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company (USF & G), filed a peremptory exception pleading the objection of no cause of action. The Parish also answered and pled the defense of comparative negligence. The Parish also filed a motion for summary judgment in which it asserted it had no custody or control of the property where the accident occurred. After a hearing, summary judgment was *936 granted in favor of the Parish, and this judgment was not appealed. The City and State then separately filed motions for summary judgment pleading the immunity of La.R.S. 9:2791 and 2795. By judgment dated August 5, 1985, summary judgment was granted in favor of the City. On August 8, 1985, the plaintiff filed an amended petition adding United Fire and Casualty Company (United), the City's insurer, as a party defendant. On August 20, 1985, United filed a motion for summary judgment and a peremptory exception raising the objections of no cause of action and prescription. On September 12, 1985, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of United and sustained United's peremptory exception pleading the objection of prescription. By judgment dated September 21, 1985, summary judgment was granted in favor of the State. On October 2, 1985, the plaintiff filed a motion to devolutively appeal the City, State and United judgments.

FACTS

The plaintiff asserts the following facts in his petition as amended:

III.
On August 22, 1982, at approximately 2:30 o'clock a.m. your petitioner went to a park on Lake Palourde, off Highway 70, to swim; the part [sic] is in the custody and control of the State of Louisiana by virtue of a navigable water body, and in the custody and control of the City of Morgan City through lease contract number 1124, and is in the custody and control of the Parish of St. Mary by virtue of its location within the Parish limits.
IV.
Upon entering the open gates, your petitioner proceeded to the edge of shore where sand bags were stacked several feet high.
V.
Your petitioner dove off of the sand bags into the shallow water approximately one (1') foot deep.
VI.
Your petitioner struck his head on the bottom of the lake bed, severing his spinal cord at C-6 and rendering him a quadriplegic.
VII.
The cause in fact of the accident herein sued upon was the negligence of the defendants for their willful and malicious failure to warn against a dangerous condition and structure; and the strict liability of the defendants for creating a defective sand bag bank or structure which posed an unreasonable risk of harm to your petitioner.
VIII.
The negligence and strict liability of defendants are hereinafter listed specifically, but not exclusively as follows:
A. Failure to keep gates repaired and locked;
B. Failure to warn of shallow water;
C. Failure to adequately warn of the risks of diving;
D. Failure to repair defective shoreline; and,
E. Failure to replace removed warning signs.

APPLICABILITY OF LA.R.S. 9:2791 AND 2795 TO INSURERS OF LANDOWNERS

(Assignment of Error D)

Appellant contends the immunity conferred by La.R.S. 9:2791 and 2795 does not extend to insurers of landowners.

As previously indicated, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the insurer, United, and sustained United's peremptory exception pleading the objection of prescription. The appellant appealed both of these rulings. However, on appeal the ruling on the prescription issue has not been assigned as error or briefed. Issues neither assigned as error nor *937 briefed are considered abandoned. Rules 1-3 and 2-12.4, Uniform Rules—Courts of Appeal; Vining v. Bardwell, 482 So.2d 685 (La.App. 1st Cir.1985), writ denied, 487 So.2d 439 (La.1986). Because the prescription issue has been abandoned, the judgment sustaining the exception and dismissing the claim against United is now final, and the issue asserted in this assignment of error is now moot.

SUMMARY JUDGMENT

In Topole v. Eidson, 464 So.2d 406, 409 (La.App. 1st Cir.1985), appears the following:

The law applicable to summary judgments is set forth in Massingale v. Sibley, 449 So.2d 98, 100 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1984), as follows:
The law is well settled that a motion for summary judgment should be granted if, and only if, the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to material fact, and that the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. La.Code Civ.P. art. 966; Stallings v. W.H. Kennedy & Son, Inc., 332 So.2d 787 (La. 1976). Only when reasonable minds must inevitably conclude that the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the facts before the court is a summary judgment warranted. Cates v. Beauregard Electric Cooperative, Inc., 328 So.2d 367 (La.1976). The burden of showing that there is not a genuine issue of material fact in dispute is upon the mover for summary judgment. Any doubt is resolved against the granting of a summary judgment and in favor of a trial on the merits to resolve disputed facts. Kay v. Carter, 243 La. 1095, 150 So.2d 27 (1963).
See also Quintana Petroleum Corporation v. Alpha Investments Corporation, 435 So.2d 1092 (La.App. 1st Cir.1983). If the supporting documents presented by a party moving for a summary judgment are sufficient to resolve all genuine issues of fact, the burden shifts to the opposing party to present evidence showing that material facts are still at issue. At this point, the opposing party may no longer rest on the allegations and denials contained in his pleadings. La.C.C.P. art. 967; Sanders v. Hercules Sheet Metal, Inc., 385 So.2d 772 (La.1980); Broussard v. Henry, 423 So.2d 67 (La.App. 1st Cir.1982).

FACTUAL ISSUE ABOUT WILLFUL OR MALICIOUS FAILURE TO WARN

(Assignment of Error A)

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Samara Samuel v. Byron Harris
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2022
Sevin v. Parish of Plaquemines
901 So. 2d 619 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2005)
Johnson v. City of Morgan City
787 So. 2d 326 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)
Progressive SEC. Ins. Co. v. Foster
711 So. 2d 675 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1998)
Deumite v. State
692 So. 2d 1127 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1997)
Verdin v. LOUISIANA LAND AND EXPLOR.
693 So. 2d 162 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1997)
Schulker v. Roberson
676 So. 2d 684 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1996)
Matherne v. Cheramie
664 So. 2d 130 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1995)
O'QUINN v. Power House Services, Inc.
633 So. 2d 707 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1993)
Thibodeau v. Mayor and Councilmen of Morgan City
619 So. 2d 595 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1993)
Socorro v. City of New Orleans
579 So. 2d 931 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1991)
Moore v. Roemer
560 So. 2d 927 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1990)
Castille v. Chaisson
544 So. 2d 670 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1989)
Cheneau ex rel. Sanders v. Apostolic Outreach Center
529 So. 2d 149 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1988)
Sutter v. Audubon Park Commission
533 So. 2d 1226 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1988)
Adams v. State
525 So. 2d 55 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1988)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
504 So. 2d 934, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stuart-v-city-of-morgan-city-lactapp-1987.