Vincent v. Beauregard Elec. Co-Op., Inc.

536 So. 2d 798, 1988 WL 136865
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 20, 1988
Docket87-1003
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 536 So. 2d 798 (Vincent v. Beauregard Elec. Co-Op., Inc.) 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
Vincent v. Beauregard Elec. Co-Op., Inc., 536 So. 2d 798, 1988 WL 136865 (La. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

536 So.2d 798 (1988)

Holton Dale VINCENT and Claire Elizabeth Vincent, Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
BEAUREGARD ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC., et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 87-1003.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

December 20, 1988.

*799 Domengeaux & Wright, Richard C. Broussard, Broussard & David, Paul B. David/Hal J. Broussard, Lafayette, for plaintiffs-appellants.

Barnett, Pitre, Davis & Yoes, Earl G. Pitre, Lake Charles, for defendants-appellees.

Before GUIDRY, FORET and KNOLL, JJ.

KNOLL, Judge.

This is an electrocution case. Holton Dale Vincent (hereafter Holton), John Cooper Vincent (hereafter John), and Jean Eaglin (hereafter Jean) appeal an adverse jury verdict that found Beauregard Electric Cooperative, Inc. (hereafter Beauregard Electric) and its insurer, Federated Rural Electric Insurance Company, not liable for plaintiffs' injuries because Beauregard Electric was not negligent. The injuries plaintiffs received occurred when a grain auger, owned by Holton and being moved by Holton, John, and Jean, contacted a Beauregard Electric distribution line which traversed the eastern boundary of Holton's field.

Holton, John, and Jean, together with the wives of Holton and Jean, filed separate actions for their injuries, and their cases were ultimately consolidated in the trial court. The three cases are again consolidated on appeal, and we will render separate judgments in John Cooper Vincent v. Beauregard Electric Cooperative, Inc., 536 So.2d 805 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1988), and Jean Eaglin and Velma Eaglin v. Beauregard Electric Cooperative, Inc., 536 So.2d 806 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1988).

Plaintiffs contend that: (1) the jury verdict is clearly wrong; (2) the trial court erred in excluding plaintiffs' evidence pertaining to a settlement agreement entered into three years prior to this electrocution accident between Holton and Beauregard Electric which allowed Holton to keep the grain auger and bin located in proximity to Beauregard Electric's transmission lines; and, (3) the trial court erred in refusing plaintiffs' requests for a curative jury instruction because counsel for Beauregard Electric and Federated allegedly misstated the law on assumption of the risk in closing argument. We affirm.

FACTS

The facts of this case center on the location of a grain bin and the use of a grain *800 auger on Holton's property, and the geographical relationship of those farm implements to Beauregard Electric's transmission line located to the north of the grain bin, and its distribution line located to the east of the grain bin. As an aid to the understanding of the facts, the following engineering survey was introduced into evidence and is reproduced for reference:[1]

*801

*802 The history and chronology of events surrounding the construction and location of the grain bin, and the various electric lines are also important.

In 1974 or 1975 Holton acquired the rural farm property located to the west of the road designated on the diagram; no improvements were yet situated on the land. Beauregard Electric had a three-phase electrical distribution line along the eastern boundary of the property, immediately adjacent to the road, which consisted of four uninsulated wires: three were charged with 7,620 volts of electricity, and the fourth wire was a static neutral. The static neutral line, suspended at a height of 27.58 feet above the ground, is the one that the plaintiffs contacted in 1983 with the auger.

At the time of Holton's acquisition of the property, CLECO had a transmission line, with a servitude of 50 feet on either side of the center line, that crossed Holton's property 83 feet north of the future site of the grain bin. This transmission line is not involved in the present litigation.

During the early part of 1976, Beauregard Electric hired Charlie R. McCain, a real estate appraiser, to acquire servitudes for a transmission line it wished to construct through Beauregard Parish. On May 14, 1976, Mr. McCain contacted Holton to obtain a 65 foot servitude to be located parallel to and south of the existing CLECO transmission line on Holton's property. Mr. McCain's attempts to negotiate a servitude agreement were not effective, and the matter was referred to Beauregard Electric's attorney for litigation.

In the summer of 1978, prior to the commencement of any expropriation proceedings, Holton constructed a Butler grain bin on his farm property, and located it within the proposed Beauregard Electric servitude. A sump pit, not altogether visible, was located east of the bin.

On April 10, 1980, Beauregard Electric commenced expropriation proceedings against Holton to take a 65 foot servitude across Holton's farm for a high voltage transmission line and to condemn the grain bin because its location and the operation of the grain auger near the proposed transmission line violated safety standards. However, on August 19, 1980, Holton and Beauregard Electric settled the expropriation suit before trial. Pursuant to the written settlement agreement, Beauregard Electric paid Holton $8,500 for the servitude, and he was allowed to keep his grain bin in the same location provided he would not interfere with the construction, operation, and maintenance of Beauregard Electric's transmission line. Holton also agreed to relocate his grain auger, essential to the operation of his grain bin, to the south side of the grain bin and restrict its use to that location. Since the northernmost edge of the grain bin was only 18 feet away from Beauregard Electric's transmission line, Holton further agreed to assume responsibility and liability for any injury or death caused by the auger coming into contact with Beauregard Electric's transmission line located to the north of the grain bin. The servitude agreement made no reference to the distribution lines already in place to the east of the grain bin.

On the morning of July 12, 1983, Holton, John, and Jean went to the grain bin to move the grain auger from the north side of the bin to the east side to unload wheat from the bin into a truck. The auger was located with its lower intake end beneath Beauregard Electric's transmission lines to the north of the bin, and the discharge end was located over the loading door at the top of the bin. The grain bin is 25 feet high, and necessitated that the grain auger be extended between 27.5 and 28 feet when it was over the bin's loading door located at the peak. Although the height of the grain auger was adjustable, the three men began moving the fully extended auger in a southeasterly direction so that the intake end could be placed in the sump pit located east of the bin. As the men swung the intake end around toward the south, causing the discharge end to swing toward the north, Holton stumbled and fell; the discharge end rose to an approximate height of 28 feet, swung further to the east, and its underside made contact with the outermost uninsulated distribution line at a *803 height of 27.58 feet. Holton, John, and Jean, who were all touching the auger, immediately received electric shocks.

As a result of the electric shock the men suffered severe injuries. Holton received third-degree burns to his right arm and hand and to his right thigh, and suffered scatter burn marks to his chest, left hand, head, and toes. The damage to his right hand necessitated its amputation just below the elbow. He was hospitalized twice for five different surgical procedures.

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Vincent v. Beauregard Electric Cooperative, Inc.
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Eaglin v. Beauregard Electric Cooperative, Inc.
536 So. 2d 806 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1988)

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Bluebook (online)
536 So. 2d 798, 1988 WL 136865, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vincent-v-beauregard-elec-co-op-inc-lactapp-1988.