Wall v. Calcasieu Parish Police Jury

833 So. 2d 528, 2002 WL 31759745
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 11, 2002
Docket02-451
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 833 So. 2d 528 (Wall v. Calcasieu Parish Police Jury) 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
Wall v. Calcasieu Parish Police Jury, 833 So. 2d 528, 2002 WL 31759745 (La. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

833 So.2d 528 (2002)

Mary Jo WALL, et al.
v.
CALCASIEU PARISH POLICE JURY.

No. 02-451.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

December 11, 2002.

*529 Robert C. McCall, Baggett, McCall, Burgess & Watson, Lake Charles, LA, for Defendants/Appellants, Mary Jo Wall, et al.

Allen L. Smith, Jr., Plauche, Smith & Nieset, Lake Charles, LA, for Defendant/Appellee, Calcasieu Parish School Board.

Court composed of ULYSSES GENE THIBODEAUX, OSWALD A. DECUIR and JIMMIE C. PETERS, Judges.

THIBODEAUX, Judge.

This matter arises out of the death of Kenneth C. Wall and originally came to us by application for supervisory writs filed by plaintiffs, Mary Jo Wall, the deceased wife, and her minor children, Mallory Blair Wall and Julia Madison Wall, against the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury (CPPJ). Kenneth died as a result of an accident that occurred while he was swimming in a designated swimming area in Prien Lake when he was struck by an unidentified *530 boat. In the trial court, the Walls filed a motion for summary judgment contending that general maritime law was applicable. The trial court ruled that Louisiana law was applicable to the case. For the following reasons, we find that general maritime law is applicable and remand for further proceedings.

I.

FACTS

On September 6, 1999, Kenneth was swimming in a designated swimming area in Prien Lake off of the Israel LaFleur beach south of Interstate 210 in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. While swimming he was struck by an unidentified watercraft. The autopsy report states "Kenneth Wall, a 39 year old white male died as a result of chop-type injuries of the head from a boat's propeller." There is a boat launch in the Israel LaFleur Park (LaFleur Park) located north of the swimming area. Another boat launch is located on Prien Lake less than a mile southeast of the swimming area. There is also a private marina at the south end of Prien Lake.

At the time of the accident, the swimming area was separated from the non-swimming area by approximately six buoys. The defendant admits that there should have been twelve to thirteen buoys in the area. Thus, there were gaps in the buoy line on the date that Kenneth was killed.

Wall brought suit against the CPPJ, the owner and operator of the park. In her suit, Wall alleged that the buoy system was improperly designed in that it failed to use a floating line to connect the buoys together. Further, Wall alleged that the buoy system was improperly maintained since the missing buoys created large gaps in the line of buoys. The CPPJ admits that Prien Lake, where the accident occurred, qualifies as a body of "navigable water." At the motion for summary judgment hearing, Wall asserted that this case, involving a watercraft killing a swimmer in navigable waters, is a maritime tort and the applicable law is admiralty. To the contrary, the CPPJ argues that Wall's claim sounds in negligence for the CPPJ's alleged failure to properly delineate the swimming area and warn of possible dangers within that swimming area. Therefore, Louisiana state substantive law applies.

II.

ISSUE

The sole issue in this writ application is whether federal maritime law applies to a non-seafarer who was killed while swimming in a designated swimming area when a watercraft, traveling in navigable waters, struck him.

III.

LAW AND DISCUSSION

Admiralty Jurisdiction

In Green v. Industrial Helicopters, Inc., 593 So.2d 634, 636-37 (La.1992), the supreme court stated:

Generally, federal maritime jurisdiction is invoked whenever an accident occurs on the high seas and in furtherance of an activity bearing a significant relationship to a traditional maritime activity. Offshore Logistics v. Tallentire, 477 U.S. 207, 106 S.Ct. 2485, 91 L.Ed.2d 174 1986); Executive Jet Aviation, Inc. v. City of Cleveland, 409 U.S. 249, 93 S.Ct. 493, 34 L.Ed.2d 454 (1972).

The judicial power of the United States extends "to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction; ..." U.S. Constitution, Art. III, § 2. Rodrigue v. LeGros, 563 So.2d 248, 251 (La.1990). State courts, *531 however, have concurrent jurisdiction by virtue of the "savings to suitors" clause of the Judiciary Act of 1789. 28 U.S.C.A. § 1333. Further, a maritime claim brought in a state court is governed by the same principles as actions brought in admiralty, i.e., by federal maritime law. Green, 593 So.2d 634. Citing Schoenbaum, Admiralty and Maritime Law § 4-1 at 123 (1987), the Green court stated: "State law and regulations may also supplement federal maritime law when `there is no conflict between the two systems of law, and the need for uniformity of decision does not bar state action.'" Id. at 637.

In Thomey v. Weber Marine, 01-0153 (La.App. 5 Cir. 5/30/01); 791 So.2d 135, 138, the fifth circuit, facing the issue of whether admiralty jurisdiction was applicable where the plaintiff injured himself when he slipped while attempting to board a barge's gangway, noted:

The traditional test for admiralty tort jurisdiction was based solely on whether the tort occurred on navigable waters. However, jurisdiction was subsequently extended to injuries caused by a vessel which were consummated on land by the Admiralty Extension Act of 1948, 46 U.S.C. section 740. Further the limits of admiralty jurisdiction have been further established by the United States Supreme Court in a trilogy of cases. In Executive Jet Aviation, Inc. v. City of Cleveland, Ohio, 409 U.S. 249, 93 S.Ct. 493, 34 L.Ed.2d 454 (1972), a case involving an airplane crash into navigable waters, the Court provided a two part test for maritime tort jurisdiction known as the "locality plus nexus" test, which provides that for a tort to fall under admiralty jurisdiction of the court, it must occur on or over navigable waters and the tort must "bear a significant relationship to traditional maritime activity." Id., 93 S.Ct. at 504.

(Emphasis in original).

The application of Executive Jet was extended beyond the context of aviation in Foremost Insurance Co. v. Richardson, 457 U.S. 668, 102 S.Ct. 2654, 73 L.Ed.2d 300 (1982), a case that involved the collision of two pleasure, as opposed to commercial, boats. In Foremost, the court held the maritime activity involved need not be exclusively commercial to fall under admiralty jurisdiction. After Foremost, the activity need only have the potential to impact commerce. The more recent case in this trilogy of admiralty cases is Sisson v. Ruby, 497 U.S. 358, 110 S.Ct. 2892, 111 L.Ed.2d 292 (1990), a case involving a fire aboard a pleasure boat that spread to other boats and a nearby marina. With respect to the locality analysis, the Supreme Court held that admiralty jurisdiction extended to cases where the tort occurs on land, provided that the tort was at least caused by a vessel on navigable waters.

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833 So. 2d 528, 2002 WL 31759745, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wall-v-calcasieu-parish-police-jury-lactapp-2002.