Sullivan v. Wallace

27 So. 3d 1120, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 59, 2010 WL 179528
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 20, 2010
Docket44,853-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 27 So. 3d 1120 (Sullivan v. Wallace) 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
Sullivan v. Wallace, 27 So. 3d 1120, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 59, 2010 WL 179528 (La. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinions

PEATROSS, J.

|-, The parties herein have been before this court twice regarding community property partition issues. In the instant matter, Mr. Sullivan sold timber off of a 120-acre tract of land that he and Ms. Sullivan co-owned (“the community tract”). Ms. Sullivan was unaware of the cutting and sale of the timber and did not share in the proceeds. This suit followed. The trial court found that Mr. Sullivan cut 254,354 board feet of timber from the community tract and valued the timber at $413.57 per thousand board feet (MBF) for a total of $105,193.18. Finding that Ms. Sullivan was owed one-half of that amount, or $52,596.59, the trial court then applied La. R.S. 3:4278.11, the “timber trespass” or “timber piracy” statute, and tripled |2this amount for a total damage award of $157,789.77. The court then awarded Ms. Sullivan attorney fees of 40 percent of the treble damage award, or $63,115.91. Mr. Sullivan appeals. For the reasons stated herein, we vacate the award of attorney fees, amend the damage award and, as amended, we affirm.

FACTS

During the marriage, the Sullivans purchased a 120-acre tract of wooded land in Claiborne Parish. After the Sullivans divorced, they retained the community tract in co-ownership and it was listed as an asset in the contested community property partition proceeding. The divorce judgment prohibited the parties from alienating or encumbering any community property. In addition, for reasons not relevant herein, the community was not partitioned [1123]*1123at the time of the events giving rise to this suit. The record reflects that, following the divorce, Mr. Sullivan purchased a tract of land adjacent to the community tract where he resided (“separate tract”).

In 1994 and 1995, Mr. Sullivan cut and stacked timber on the community tract. It is undisputed that, in February 1994, Mr. Sullivan contracted with Eddie Harmon of Harmon Wood Company, Inc. (“Harmon Wood”) to purchase the timber cut from the property and to haul the timber to the Willamette mill. Mr. Sullivan maintains that the first timber sold to Harmon Wood was cut from his separate tract; however, the record reflects 13that Mr. Harmon was unaware that he was purchasing timber from separate tracts or that there were different or additional owners of the property. Mr. Sullivan further maintains that the timber had been damaged by the ice storm of February 9, 1994, and was already felled and damaged when he sold the timber to Harmon Wood. The mill tickets, however, show that the first load of Sullivan timber was delivered to the Willamette mill by Harmon Wood on February 8, 1994, the day before the ice storm. The record further reveals that there were very few culled logs, ie., damaged timber from the Sullivan property. As stated, the cutting and sale of timber by Mr. Sullivan continued into 1995.

The checks for the timber sold by Mr. Sullivan to Harmon Wood in 1994 were made payable to Mr. Sullivan’s girlfriend (now wife), Priscilla Wallace, allegedly for tax purposes. The checks to Ms. Wallace totaled $29,901. The checks from Harmon Wood for the timber harvested in 1995 were made payable to Mr. Sullivan and totaled $33,364. Accompanying the checks from Harmon Wood to Ms. Wallace and Mr. Sullivan are the scale or mill tickets reflecting, inter alia, the number of board feet sold. The total of all of the mill tickets in evidence, covering the time period from February 8, 1994, to March 1, 1995, is 214,354 board feet.

In early 1995, Ms. Sullivan became aware that the timber had been cut from the community tract. She contacted Mr. Harmon in March 1995 and advised him that the property was involved in litigation. Harmon Wood immediately ceased hauling timber from the Sullivan property. Mr. Harmon testified in deposition that Mr. Sullivan then advised him that there was |4stacked timber remaining on the property which had not yet been hauled to the mill. Mr. Harmon refused, however, to remove any additional timber from the Sullivan property.

Ms. Sullivan filed this suit in December 1995, naming as defendants Harmon Wood, Mr. Harmon, individually, Priscilla Wallace and Bruce Sullivan. Harmon Wood filed a cross-claim against Mr. Sullivan. At the time suit was filed, the community property partition was pending under another docket number. Mr. Sullivan filed an Exception of No Right of Action and Alternative Motion for Summary Judgment in the current action arguing that Ms. Sullivan’s claims must be asserted in the partition action and not brought as a separate action. The trial court denied the exception and the case was ultimately tried some four years later, on May 22 and 23, 2006. In the meantime, Ms. Sullivan and Mr. Harmon, individually, and Harmon Wood reached a settlement and those defendants were dismissed from the suit.

The matter proceeded to trial against Mr. Sullivan and Ms. Wallace; and, ultimately, the court ruled in favor of Ms. Wallace, dismissing her from the suit. As previously stated, the court ruled against Mr. Sullivan, finding that 254,354 board feet of timber was harvested from the community tract. This figure represents the 214,354 board feet reflected on the mill [1124]*1124tickets and an additional 40,000 board feet that was felled, but not hauled to the mill. The court then concluded that the market value of the timber as pine saw logs at the time of the harvesting was $413.57/MBF, or $105,198.18. Ms. Sullivan, therefore, was entitled to one-half of that amount, or | b$52,596.59. Applying La. R.S. 3:4278.1, the trial court then tripled that amount resulting in an award of $157,789.77. In addition, also under the timber trespass statute, the trial court awarded attorney fees in the amount of 40 percent of the treble damage award, or $63,115.91, resulting in a total judgment in favor of Ms. Sullivan of $220,805.88. This appeal ensued.

DISCUSSION

On appeal, Mr. Sullivan challenges the trial court’s denial of his Exception of No Right of Action and Motion for Summary Judgment. Alternatively, he argues that the factual findings of the trial court regarding the number of board feet cut and the market price of the timber were manifestly erroneous and further urges that the timber trespass statute does not apply to co-owners of property under Alexander v. Dunn, 44,272 (La.App.2d Cir.6/3/09), 15 So.3d 302, writ denied, 09-1487 (La.10/2/09), 18 So.3d 122.

Exception of No Right of Action and Motion for Summary Judgment

As a threshold issue, we first address the denial of Mr. Sullivan’s Exception of No Right of Action and Motion for Summary Judgment. The trial court recognized the nature of the current action to be in tort and we note that the petition also contained actions for trespass, negligence and conversion. We find no error in the trial court’s decision to allow these claims to proceed separate from the partition action. See, e.g., Schulingkamp v. Schulingkamp, 96-2680 (La.App. 1st Cir.12/29/97), 706 So.2d 1005, writ denied, 98-0279 (La.3/20/98), 715 So.2d 1219.

| /¡Factual Findings of the Trial Court

We now review the factual findings of the trial court regarding the amount of timber sold to Harmon Wood by Mr. Sullivan and the market value of the timber for purposes of computing the damage award.

The standard of review to be applied to factual findings in a civil matter is the manifest error standard. Arceneaux v. Domingue, 365 So.2d 1330 (La.1978).

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Related

Sullivan v. Wallace
51 So. 3d 702 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2010)
Sullivan v. Wallace
27 So. 3d 1120 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
27 So. 3d 1120, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 59, 2010 WL 179528, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sullivan-v-wallace-lactapp-2010.