Zapata v. Cormier

858 So. 2d 601, 2003 WL 21480580
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 27, 2003
Docket2002 CA 1801
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 858 So. 2d 601 (Zapata v. Cormier) 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
Zapata v. Cormier, 858 So. 2d 601, 2003 WL 21480580 (La. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

858 So.2d 601 (2003)

Diane Jenkins ZAPATA, Natural Tutrix of/and on Behalf of her Minor Children, Shelly Ann Shadell and Dale J. Shadell, Jr.
v.
Michael CORMIER, Allstate Insurance Company, Lee Rodrigue, National Automotive Insurance Company, Freddie Doucet as Owner of Dixie Inn, and XYZ Insurance Company.

No. 2002 CA 1801.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

June 27, 2003.

*602 Randy O. Lewis, Luling, for Plaintiff-Appellant Diane J. Zapata, Natural Tutrix of/and on Behalf of Her Minor Children, Shelly Ann Shadell and Dale J. Shadell, Jr.

Michael G. Gee, Thibodaux, for Defendant-Appellee Michael Cormier and Allstate Insurance Company.

Gary T. Breedlove, R. Vaughn Cimini, Metairie, for Defendants-Appellees Lee Rodrigue and National Automotive Insurance Company.

William S. Bordelon, Houma, for Defendant-Appellee Freddie Doucet, as Owner of Dixie Inn and First Financial Insurance Company.

Before: FITZSIMMONS, GUIDRY, and PETTIGREW, JJ.

PETTIGREW, J.

This is an action for wrongful death filed on behalf of the minor children of a bar patron who, after leaving the bar, was struck and killed by an automobile while crossing a highway to his vehicle. The trial court subsequently granted summary judgment in favor of the bar owner and his insurer. We affirm.

FACTS

On April 18, 1999, Lee Rodrigue ("Mr.Rodrigue"), accompanied by Dale J. Shadell ("Mr.Shadell"), and Mr. Shadell's girlfriend, Suzanne Barfield ("Ms.Barfield"), traveled to the beach at Fourchon, in southern Lafourche Parish. While at the beach, the trio drank beer and Mr. Shadell and Mr. Rodrigue also smoked marijuana.

At approximately seven o'clock that evening, the group decided to return home and headed north in Mr. Rodrigue's truck on La. Hwy. 1. Mr. Shadell indicated that he wanted to stop at the Dixie Inn, a bar/dancehall owned by Freddie Doucet ("Mr.Doucet"), and located on the west side of La. Hwy. 1, near the town of Golden Meadow, Louisiana. It was dark when the trio arrived at the Dixie Inn where a band was playing that evening. Vehicles lined both sides of La. Hwy. 1 adjacent to the dancehall. The group drove by the bar once, then turned around, and proceeded back south searching for a place to park. After turning around and proceeding north once again, the trio finally found a parking place along the right shoulder of La. Hwy. 1 almost directly across from the Dixie Inn.

After approximately one hour, Mr. Shadell, Mr. Rodrigue, and Ms. Barfield decided to leave. The trio exited the Dixie Inn and began walking towards Mr. Rodrigue's truck that was parallel parked along La. Hwy. 1 opposite the bar. Before he and Ms. Barfield crossed La. Hwy. 1, Mr. Rodrigue looked back and noticed that Mr. Shadell had stopped to talk to some friends on the front porch of the Dixie Inn. After Mr. Rodrigue and Ms. Barfield made it safely across the highway to the shoulder, they heard a thump. When the pair looked back, they did not see Mr. Shadell. Moments later they learned that Mr. Shadell had been struck as he attempted to *603 cross the highway by a northbound 1998 Mitsubishi Galant operated by Michael Cormier ("Mr.Cormier") and owned by his mother-in-law, Cora Peters.

An accident report prepared by Louisiana State Police revealed that when the vehicle operated by Mr. Cormier struck Mr. Shadell, he was thrown over the vehicle and came to rest in the northbound lane of the highway. Mr. Shadell was then run over by a northbound 1989 Ford Ranger pick-up truck that was traveling some distance behind the vehicle operated by Mr. Cormier. Mr. Shadell was pronounced dead at the scene.

Intoxilyzer breath tests performed on both drivers to detect the presence of alcohol proved negative; however, a blood alcohol test performed on the body of Mr. Shadell by the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab revealed a blood alcohol level of 0.32 grams percent, a level in excess of three times the legal limit. The accident report further indicated that at the time of the accident, Mr. Shadell was dressed in black denim jeans, a black t-shirt, a black bandanna, and brown boots.

ACTION OF THE TRIAL COURT

On December 1, 1999, Diane Zapata ("Ms.Zapata"), in her capacity as the natural tutrix of her minor children, Shelly Ann Shadell and Dale J. Shadell, Jr., filed on their behalf the instant suit for damages. Ms. Zapata named Mr. Cormier, the operator of the vehicle that struck Mr. Shadell; the insurer of the vehicle, Allstate Insurance Company ("Allstate"); Mr. Shadell's host driver, Mr. Rodrigue; Mr. Rodrigue's insurer, National Automotive Insurance Company ("National Automotive"); the owner of the Dixie Inn, Mr. Doucet; and Mr. Doucet's liability insurer initially identified only as XYZ Insurance Company, as defendants therein. As part of her suit, Ms. Zapata alleged that Mr. Doucet, as the owner of the Dixie Inn, was liable based upon his failure to provide adequate parking at his place of business, failure to provide a safe environment for his patrons, and failure to warn customers of a "traplike situation."

On March 30, 2000, Ms. Zapata filed a supplemental and amending petition and identified First Financial Insurance Company ("First Financial"), as the liability insurer of Mr. Doucet, owner of the Dixie Inn. Through this pleading, First Financial was also named as a defendant therein. Later, on April 17, 2000, Ms. Zapata filed a second supplemental and amending petition and named Cora Peters, the registered owner of the 1998 Mitsubishi Galant operated by Mr. Cormier at the time of the accident, as an additional defendant in this matter.[1]

On September 1, 2000, a motion for summary judgment was filed on behalf of Mr. Doucet and First Financial. Following a hearing held on October 20, 2000, the trial court denied said motion because there was a question of whether Mr. Shadell's intoxication was a substantial factor in causing his death, and if so, whether Mr. Doucet was immunized from liability pursuant to the provisions of La. R.S. 9:2800.1. Louisiana Revised Statute 9:2800.1 provides that it is the consumption of intoxicating beverages, rather than the sale of said beverages that is the proximate cause of any injury, including death and property damage, inflicted by an intoxicated person upon himself or another person.

On September 29, 2000, Ms. Zapata moved for and was granted a judgment of partial dismissal after suggesting to the *604 court that the claims brought by her on behalf of her children against Mr. Cormier and Allstate had been fully compromised. Accordingly, the claims brought by Ms. Zapata against these defendants were dismissed with a specific reservation of her rights against all remaining defendants.

Mr. Rodrigue and National Automotive filed a motion for summary judgment, and following a hearing on May 4, 2001, were also dismissed from this litigation pursuant to a judgment signed by the trial court on May 16, 2001.

On June 14, 2001, Ms. Zapata filed a third supplemental and amending petition clarifying the allegations made in her original petition and, further, alleging that the defendant Mr. Doucet, in his capacity as the owner of the Dixie Inn, knew of the defect in his premises and failed to remedy or warn Mr. Shadell, and that Mr. Doucet is therefore strictly liable for the damages caused by said defect. Ms. Zapata further alleged that the said defect consisted of a failure to provide adequate parking and adequate lighting for the safe entry and exit of patrons to his establishment.

On April 18, 2002, defendants Mr. Doucet and First Financial re-filed their motion for summary judgment.

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Bluebook (online)
858 So. 2d 601, 2003 WL 21480580, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zapata-v-cormier-lactapp-2003.