Turner v. Reliance Insurance Co.

8 So. 3d 122, 8 La.App. 3 Cir. 1135, 2009 La. App. LEXIS 373, 2009 WL 530125
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 4, 2009
Docket08-1135
StatusPublished

This text of 8 So. 3d 122 (Turner v. Reliance Insurance Co.) 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
Turner v. Reliance Insurance Co., 8 So. 3d 122, 8 La.App. 3 Cir. 1135, 2009 La. App. LEXIS 373, 2009 WL 530125 (La. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

GENOVESE, Judge.

| ¡In this personal injury case arising out of a car-truck collision, Defendant, Safeway Insurance Company of Louisiana (Safeway), appeals the judgment of the trial court in favor of the Plaintiff, Robert Turner, Sr., alleging error with the trial court’s fault allocation. After thorough consideration of the record, applicable law, and the requisite manifest error standard of review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On February 3, 2000, Mr. Turner was involved in an automobile accident at the intersection of Louisiana Highway 10 and Hospital Drive in Oakdale, Allen Parish, Louisiana. Mr. Turner alleges that he was driving east on Louisiana Highway 10 with the intention of turning left onto Hospital Drive; however, while he was stopped at the aforementioned intersection, an eighteen-wheeler being driven west on Louisiana Highway 10 by Defendant, Michael Stokes, collided with Mr. Turner’s vehicle.

Mr. Turner filed suit on December 5, 2000, against Mr. Stokes, the owner of the eighteen-wheeler, Keith Chenevert Logging, Inc., and its liability insurer, Reliance Insurance Company. Mr. Turner amended his suit on September 8, 2005, to include Safeway in this matter as his uninsured or underinsured motorist (UM) liability coverage provider. 1

A bench trial was held on April 20, 2007, after which the trial court gave the parties time to submit post-trial memoranda. After the parties extensively briefed the issues, the trial court took the matter under advisement. On October 31, 2007, the Iztrial court issued its opinion wherein it credited the testimony of “the only independent witness,” Sally Moreaux, for its finding that “the sole cause of [the] accident was the excessive speed of the log truck driven by Michael J. Stokes and crossing into the road lane of Robert Turner.” Judgment in favor of Mr. Turner awarding him Safeway’s policy limits in the amount of $10,000.00 was signed on August 14, 2008. Safeway appeals.

*124 ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR

In its sole assignment of error, Safeway argues that “[t]he trial court committed manifest error in concluding that the accident made the basis of this matter was caused through the negligence of Michael Stokes and, therefore, in rendering Judgment [against] Safeway Insurance Company of Louisiana as Appellee’s uninsured motorist carrier.”

LAW AND DISCUSSION

As set forth by this court in Johnson v. Safeway Insurance Co., 06-224, p. 2 (La.App. 3 Cir. 5/31/06), 931 So.2d 1221, 1223:

An assessment of fault is a factual determination. Thus, an appellate court reviewing a fact finder’s allocation of fault owes the same deference to that finding as it does to any other factual determination and such determination should not be disturbed on appeal unless it is clearly wrong or manifestly erroneous. Clement v. Frey, 95-1119 (La.1/16/96), 666 So.2d 607.

Safeway contends that the trial court was manifestly erroneous in its assessment of fault solely against Mr. Stokes. Safeway asserts that the inconsistencies in the testimony of both Mr. Turner and Mrs. Moreaux support its contention that the trial court erred in finding that Mr. Stokes, and not Mr. Turner, was solely responsible for causing the accident at issue herein. Safeway also contends that the trial court misinterpreted the physical evidence. Therefore, Safeway Largues that the trial court was clearly wrong in concluding that Mr. Stokes was the sole cause of the accident.

At trial, Safeway introduced into evidence the deposition of Mr. Stokes taken on March 21, 2007. According to Mr. Stokes, on the morning of February 3, 2000, he was driving west on Louisiana Highway 10 and:

As I was going through the slow-down process of coming into town there, I seen Mr. Turner. You know, he was— he done everything right. You know, he was fully stopped. He had his turn signal on, and he was sitting there, and he was waiting, but it seemed like within 50 feet of me approaching him, that’s when he just all of a sudden he just wanted to start turning to the left to go towards the hospital. And then there just wasn’t — there was no place for me to go.

Safeway also entered into evidence the deposition of Sergeant Edward Buford Johnson of the Oakdale City Police Department. Attached to Sgt. Johnson’s deposition is a Uniform Motor Vehicle Crash Report which Sgt. Johnson prepared while investigating the accident at issue herein. Safeway argues that Sgt. Johnson’s investigation and the Uniform Motor Vehicle Crash Report prepared therefrom also supports its contention that the trial court was manifestly erroneous.

According to Sgt. Johnson, he visited Mr. Turner in the hospital the day following the accident in order to take Mr. Turner’s statement. The Uniform Motor Vehicle Crash Report contains Driver/Witness Voluntary Statements from both Mr. Stokes and Mr. Turner. The statement of Mr. Turner was taken at the hospital the day following the accident and states:

I[,] Robert Turner[,] was in a[sic] accident on 2-3-2000 at around 7:00 a.m. on La. Hwy[.] 10 E. I was attempting a left turn onto Hospital Dr. I thought I saw the truck and had time to make it. At this time[,] the truck hit me.

This statement was written by PFC E. *125 Johnson [ 2 ] because of injuries. | ¿Finally, the Uniform Motor Vehicle Crash Report and Sgt. Johnson’s testimony both indicated that the major damage to Mr. Turner’s vehicle was on the front left of his vehicle.

Mr. Turner testified that, on the morning of February 3, 2000, he was driving east on Louisiana Highway 10, and that “[he] slowed down. It was kind of foggy. And when [he] slowed down the only thing [he] knew something hit [him].” Mr. Turner also declared that he did not turn his vehicle into the path of the oncoming truck being driven by Mr. Stokes. When questioned whether he remembered a police officer going to the hospital to question him about the accident, Mr. Turner stated that, though he was badly injured, he did remember telling a police officer how the accident occurred. Mr. Turner also expressed to the trial court that the report written by the police officer did not contain an accurate description of how the accident occurred.

Mrs. Moreaux’s testimony at trial corroborated Mr. Turner’s version of how the accident occurred. Mrs. Moreaux testified that, immediately prior to the accident at issue herein, she was driving east on Louisiana Highway 10 directly behind Mr. Turner when she witnessed him stop and signal his intent to turn left onto Hospital Drive. Mrs. Moreaux recalled being stopped behind Mr. Turner’s “dead still” vehicle when “[t]he big truck struck Mr. Turner’s vehicle.” According to Mrs. Mor-eaux, Mr. Turner did not turn in front of the approaching truck being driven by Mr. Stokes.

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Related

Clement v. Frey
666 So. 2d 607 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1996)
Johnson v. Safeway Ins. Co.
931 So. 2d 1221 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2006)
Robin v. Allstate Ins. Co.
870 So. 2d 402 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2004)
Rosell v. Esco
549 So. 2d 840 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1989)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
8 So. 3d 122, 8 La.App. 3 Cir. 1135, 2009 La. App. LEXIS 373, 2009 WL 530125, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/turner-v-reliance-insurance-co-lactapp-2009.