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Duncan v. Kansas City Southern Railway Co.10/30/2000
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEAL THIRD CIRCUIT, STATE OF LOUISIANA
This case arises out of a collision between a locomotive and a church van at a railroad crossing in Beauregard Parish. There were three passengers, all sisters, riding in the church van. As a result of the collision, one sister was killed, a second was rendered a quadriplegic, and the third suffered less serious injuries. Plaintiffs, parents of the three passengers, filed suit to recover damages. A jury found the driver of the van and the railroad liable for the accident, apportioning fault between the two. The decision was affirmed by the court of appeal. We granted certiorari to review the correctness of this decision.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On September 11, 1994, a van owned by the Bible Baptist Church ("Church") was being driven by Lloyd Mitchell ("Mitchell"). Mitchell was returning children to their homes following Sunday services at the Church. At the intersection of East Iowa Road and the Kansas City Southern Railway Company ("KCS") track in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana, the van collided with a locomotive owned by KCS. Mitchell had three passengers, all sisters, remaining in the van at the time of the accident.
The oldest passenger, twelve-year old Amanda Duncan, was killed in the accident. Her eleven-year old sister, Rachel Duncan, was thrown from the van and suffered traumatic spinal cord and brain injury . The youngest passenger, seven-year old Myranda Duncan, suffered less serious physical injuries.
The parents of the three sisters, Bobby and Nelda Duncan, instituted this suit individually and on behalf of Rachel and Myranda. The original petition, and subsequent amendments, named as defendants, KCS; the locomotive's crew; the Beauregard Parish Police Jury ("Parish") and its insurer, Titan Indemnity Company ("Titan"); Mitchell and his insurer, State Farm Automobile Insurance Company ("State Farm"); and the Church and its insurers, Preferred Risk Mutual Automobile Insurance Company ("Preferred") and Midwest Mutual Insurance Company ("Midwest"). The Duncans alleged negligence on the part of KCS for failing to adequately clear the right-of-way adjacent to the railroad tracks causing inadequate sight line distances and for installing inadequate signage at the intersection. The plaintiffs asserted Mitchell was negligent in failing to stop at the stop sign or yield to the oncoming train. Further, the plaintiffs alleged the Parish was the owner of East Iowa Road and, as the owner, it was negligent for failing to adequately clear its right-of-way and for failing to install proper signage; namely "Stop" and "Railroad Crossing" signs.
Following a bifurcated jury trial, judgment was rendered in favor of the plaintiffs. The jury determined that KCS, Mitchell and the Parish were negligent, and that their negligence was the legal cause of the accident. Based on this finding of negligence, the jury apportioned fault as follows: KCS, 58.6% fault; Mitchell, 26.4% fault; and the Parish, 15% fault. The trial judge found the Parish did breach its duty to install proper signage, but that this breach was not a cause-in-fact of the accident since Mitchell was aware that he was approaching a railroad crossing. As such, the trial court reconciled its verdict with that of the jury and reapportioned the Parish's share of fault to the remaining defendants. Thus, KCS was found to be 68.94% at fault and Mitchell was 31.06% at fault.
The plaintiffs were awarded damages totaling $27,876,813.31. Included in the award were future medical expenses in the amount of $17,000,000.00 and general damages for physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, and loss of enjoym
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