Tony Dooley v. Cj Johnson Home Improvement & Cornelius Johnson

Opinion

TONY DOOLEY * NO. 2022-CA-0011

VERSUS * COURT OF APPEAL

CJ JOHNSON HOME * FOURTH CIRCUIT IMPROVEMENT & CORNELIUS JOHNSON * STATE OF LOUISIANA

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TGC

CHASE, J., CONCURS IN THE RESULT

I concur with the result reached by the majority that this appeal should be

dismissed as untimely. I write separately to note that, based upon the merits of this

appeal, I would have affirmed the trial court’s judgment. “When findings are

based on determinations regarding the credibility of witnesses, the manifest error-

clearly wrong standard demands great deference to the trier of fact’s findings.”

Rosell v. ESCO, 549 So.2d 840, 845-846 (La. 1989). If objective evidence

contradicts the witness’s story, or the story itself is so internally inconsistent or

implausible that a reasonable fact finder would not give it credit, an appellate court

may well find manifest error even in a finding purportedly based upon a credibility

determination. Id. “But where such factors are not present, and a factfinder’s

finding is based upon its decision to credit the testimony of one of two or more

witnesses, that finding can virtually never be manifestly erroneous or clearly

wrong.” Id.