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Duncan v. Kansas City Southern Railway Co.10/30/2000
ent of life in the amount of 8,000,000.00 to Rachel Duncan.
The trial court's decision was appealed by KCS and Midwest . In its appeal to the Third
Circuit, KCS raised four assignments of error: (1) the jury was manifestly erroneous and clearly wrong in deciding the legal duty of KCS and any violation of that duty; (2) the trial court committed reversible error in allowing plaintiffs' expert highway design engineer to testify regarding inadequate signage and sight distances at the crossing; (3) the jury abused its discretion in the allocation of fault; and (4) the jury abused its discretion in the assessment of damages. The court of appeal determined that KCS' assignments of error were without merit and affirmed the trial court's decision. See Duncan v. Kansas City Southern Railway Co., 99-232 (La. App. 3 Cir. 11/3/99); 747 So. 2d 656. On KCS' application, we granted certiorari to review the correctness of that decision. Duncan v. Kansas City Southern Railway Co., 00-0066 (La. 3/24/00); -- So. 2d -- . In its application to this Court, KCS again raises the four assignments of error rejected by the court of appeal.
DISCUSSION
An appellate court may not disturb the conclusions reached by a jury regarding factual matters in the absence of "manifest error" or unless a particular finding of fact was "clearly wrong." Rosell v. ESCO, 549 So. 2d 840, 844 (La. 1989). This Court has announced a two-part inquiry for the reversal of the trier of fact's determinations: (1) the appellate court must find from the record that a reasonable factual basis does not exist for the finding of the factfinder, and (2) the appellate court must also determine that the record establishes that the finding is clearly wrong or manifestly erroneous. Stobart v. State, through DOTD, 617 So. 2d 880, 882 (La. 1993). Thus, the inquiry is whether the factual findings are reasonable, not whether the trier of fact was right or wrong. Id. If, in light of the record in its entirety, the trial court's findings are reasonable, then the appellate court may not reverse, even if convinced it would have weighed the evidence differently sitting as the trier of fact. Sistler v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co., 558 So. 2d 1106, 1112 (La. 1990).
LIABILITY
With these principles in mind, we turn our attention to KCS' first assignment of error; that is, whether the court of appeal erred in holding the railroad liable for the accident. KCS argues that by the time of trial, only two of the plaintiffs' theories of recovery remained, inadequate signage and inadequate sight distances due to groundcover in the KCS right-of-way. According to KCS, the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support either theory. In particular, KCS argues that the evidence established that if Mitchell had stopped at the stop sign adjacent to the railway tracks, which he was statutorily obligated to do, he could have seen six hundred feet to the south and would have been able to see the approaching train. Thus, according to KCS, the driver's ability to see an approaching train prevents a finding that the conditions at the East Iowa Road crossing constitute a "dangerous trap" and, in turn, prevents a finding that the railroad is liable in the face of Mitchell's one hundred percent liability.
In order to determine whether liability exists under the facts of a particular case, our Court has adopted a duty-risk analysis. Under this analysis, plaintiff must prove that the conduct in question was a cause-in-fact of the resulting harm, the defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff, the requisite duty was breached by the defendant and the risk of harm was within the scope of protection afforded by the duty bre
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