Wheeler v. Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development

675 So. 2d 788, 95 La.App. 4 Cir. 1700, 1996 La. App. LEXIS 924, 1996 WL 275289
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 22, 1996
DocketNo. 95-CA-1700
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 675 So. 2d 788 (Wheeler v. Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development) 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
Wheeler v. Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development, 675 So. 2d 788, 95 La.App. 4 Cir. 1700, 1996 La. App. LEXIS 924, 1996 WL 275289 (La. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

11ARMSTRONG, Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment ordering that the defendant, the State of Louisiana, Through the Department of Transportation and Development (“DOTD”), pay prejudgment interest to the plaintiffs, Aveau Wheeler and her husband, Gerald, and to intervenor, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (“Liberty”), pursuant to La.C.C. art. 2924. Finding no error in the judgment of the trial court, we now affirm.

The facts are undisputed. Aveau and Gerald Wheeler filed suit against the defendants, the DOTD and Michael J. Seardina, seeking damages for personal injuries and loss of consortium,' sustained as a result of an injury to Gerald Wheeler while in the course and scope of his employment with IBM Corporation. IBM was insured under a worker’s compensation policy issued by Liberty, which paid medical expenses in the amount of $26,-309.80.

Judgment was rendered on July 20, 1993, in favor of plaintiffs and Liberty. Interest was awarded from date of judicial demand. Defendant forwarded cheeks for satisfaction of judgment, with pre-judgment interest computed pursuant to La.R.S. 13:5112(C), which set pre-judgment interest at 6%. Plaintiffs and Liberty reserved their rights to dispute the calculation of pre-judgment interest.

On November 18, 1994, plaintiffs filed a rule to show cause why the DOTD should not pay legal interest pursuant to La.C.C. art. 2924. The DOTD filed exceptions of improper venue, lack of subject matter jurisdiction, unauthorized use of summary proceeding, vagueness |2and lack of procedural capacity.1 The trial court overruled the exceptions and ordered that pre-judgment interest was to be paid pursuant to La.C.C. art. 2924. The trial court did not indicate whether this was a clarification of its original judgment or was a change from that judgment.

Defendant DOTD clams the trial court erred in overruling its exceptions or, alternatively, in finding that pre-judgment interest was to be calculated according to La.C.C. art. 2924.

EXCEPTIONS

Lack of subject matter jurisdiction: Defendant claims the trial court lacked jurisdiction over the subject matter of the plaintiffs’ motion because a final and definitive judgment had been rendered. Defendant argues [790]*790that any “positive” change in the rate of interest is a substantive change in the judgment not permitted by La.C.C.P. art. 1951.

In Pringle Associated Mortgage Corp. v. Cox, 234 So.2d 854 (La.App. 1st Cir.1970), affirmed, 258 La. 499, 246 So.2d 841 (1971), the court held that an amendment to a judgment to change the way in which interest was computed was a substantive change not permitted by La.C.C.P. art. 1951. The instant case differs from Pringle, however, because there is no indication that the amendment to the judgment, decreeing that interest was to be paid according to La.C.C. art. 2924, was a change. While the record does not contain a copy of the original judgment, the defendants represent that it simply awarded damages together “with interest from judicial demand and costs.” This language does not reflect a differentiation between pre-judgment and post-judgment interest. Even though La.R.S. 13:5112(C) was not declared unconstitutional by the Louisiana Supreme Court in Rick v. State, DOTD, 93-1776, 93-1784 (La. 1/14/94), 630 So.2d 1271, until six months after the judgment in this ease was rendered, as will be further discussed in dealing with the issue of retroactivity, the provision was patently unconstitutional. La. Const, art. XII, § 10(A). Because of this, we cannot infer from the judgment that the trial court contemplated the DOTD paying pre-judgment interest at a rate less than would be paid by any other defendant pursuant to La.C.C. art. 2924. There is no evidence |3that the judgment appealed from makes any substantive change in the rate of interest in violation of the provisions of La.C.C.P. art. 1951.

Lack of procedural capacity: The defendant claims that it, the Department of Transportation and Development, is an improper party defendant for the relief sought since it is the Treasurer who pays an amount due based upon the calculation performed by the Division of Administration. We disagree. The original judgment of the trial court was clarified by the judgment in the instant case. The original judgment was rendered against the DOTD. The instant judgment clarifying that judgment was properly rendered against the DOTD. The DOTD was the proper party defendant.

Improper venue: The pillar of defendant’s argument as to the trial court’s denial of the exception of improper venue is its assertion that the State Treasurer or the Division of Administration was the proper party defendant to this rule to show cause. We rejected that argument and thus find no merit to this argument as to venue.

Improper use of summary procedure: Defendant submits that plaintiffs essentially sought a declaratory judgment as to the method of computing interest and that summary procedure was an improper vehicle to dispose of that matter. La.C.C.P. art. 2592 specifies the matters in which summary proceedings may be employed. Included are incidental questions arising in the course of judicial proceedings, such as the award of and the determination of reasonableness of attorney’s fees. La.C.C.P. art. 2592(1). The trial court did not specify the rate of legal interest in its original judgment. The plaintiffs reserved their right to raise this issue. Considering this, we have previously characterized the plaintiffs’ “Rule To Show Cause” as more on the order of a motion for clarification of judgment. The plaintiffs’ “rule” fell under La.C.C. art. 2592(1). Whether or not the trial court intended that pre-judgment legal interest on the award of damages was to be paid pursuant to La.C.C. art. 2924 was an incidental question arising in the course of judicial proceedings.

APPLICATION OF LAC.C. ART. 2921

In Rick v. State, DOTD, supra, the Louisiana Supreme Court held La.R.S. 13:5112 unconstitutional, stating, simply:

LAs explained in Segura v. Louisiana Architects Selection Bd., 362 So.2d 498 (La.1978), and Chamberlain v. State Through DOTD, 624 So.2d 874 (La.1993), the limitation conflicts with Louisiana Constitution Article XII, § 10(A).

Subsequent to Rick, in Magee v. Landrieu, 95-0437, 95-0438, 95-0474 (La. App. 1st 3/17/95), 653 So.2d 62, writ denied, 95-0790 (La. 4/21/95), 654 So.2d 319, the First Circuit Court of Appeal held that both [791]*791Chamberlain and Rick would not be applied retroactively to eases which were final, definitive and executory at the time of the decisions. For the following reasons, we disagree with the holding of the First Circuit in Magee insofar as it applies to the facts of this case — a final, definitive and executory judgment wherein the plaintiffs reserved their rights as to interest being paid pursuant to La.C.C. art. 2924. The Magee court set out the applicable law as to the determination of retroactivity as follows:

Generally, when statutes are declared unconstitutional they are void ab initio and all acts done under such statutes are void and of no effect. Smith v. Lincoln Parish Police Jury, 327 So.2d 641, 644 (La.App. 2nd Cir.1976) (citing Flournoy v. First Nat. Bank of Shreveport, 197 La. 1067, 3 So.2d 244 (1941)).

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675 So. 2d 788, 95 La.App. 4 Cir. 1700, 1996 La. App. LEXIS 924, 1996 WL 275289, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wheeler-v-louisiana-department-of-transportation-development-lactapp-1996.