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Granger v. Guillory6/5/2002
AFFIRMED.
Mr. Patrick and Ms. Linda Granger sued Mr. Scott Guillory and Continental Insurance Company (Continental) for personal injuries, which they received when horses, which Mr. Guillory owned, ran free on the highway and into their car. The trial court found that there was insurance coverage and that Mr. Guillory is liable to the Grangers. Mr. Guillory appeals, regarding liability; Continental appeals, concerning coverage. We affirm.
On March 14, 1997, an accident occurred on Louisiana Highway 182, near Grand Couteau Road in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, when the Grangers' car struck two horses, who were running free on the highway. Mr. Scott Guillory owned the horses. They had escaped from his property at 320 Carmen Drive in Arnaudville, Louisiana. After Ms. Granger struck them, Mr. Bryant Rivette hit the rear of her vehicle and pushed it off the road, injuring the Grangers.
On November 14, 1997, the Grangers filed suit against Mr. Scott Guillory, Continental, and others. Continental had issued a insurance policy, on the 320 Carmen Drive property, to Mr. George Guillory, Scott's father.
Continental filed a summary judgment motion, claiming no coverage, which the trial court denied. It sought writs to this court, which we denied. On December 4, 2000, the trial court heard the matter and took it under advisement, pending the parties' post-trial memoranda. On March 26, 2001, it issued reasons for judgment and signed the judgment on May 17, 2001. It ruled in the Grangers' favor, regarding coverage and liability, awarded past medical expenses of $9,714.55, and general damages of $24,000.00.
Both, Continental and Mr. Scott Guillory filed a suspensive appeal-the former, concerning coverage; the latter, liability. Neither appealed the damage awards.
Liability
In his reasons for judgment, the trial court explained why it found Mr. Guillory to be negligent:
St. Landry Parish Police Jury Ordinance 5-33 applies to this case, and it makes it unlawful for Mr. Scott Guillory to have allowed his horses onto Louisiana Highway 182 in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. This Ordinance, taken in conjunction with the pronouncement in Article 2321 of the Louisiana Civil Code, which allows the Court to interject the adoption of res ipsa loquitur in appropriate cases, is controlling. Based upon that Ordinance, the Civil Code Article, and the jurisprudence, the Court finds that the sole proximate cause of the accident and resulting injuries lies with Mr. Scott Guillory. The Court specifically concludes that there is insufficient evidence to apply the doctrine of comparative negligence.
Nevertheless, Mr. Guillory contends that the trial court erred when it found him to be negligent under La.Civ.Code art. 2321 and the res ipsa loquitur doctrine. La.Civ.Code art. 2321 provides that:
The owner of an animal is answerable for the damage caused by the animal. However, he is answerable for the damage only upon a showing that he knew or, in the exercise of reasonable care, should have known that his animal's behavior would cause damage, that the damage could have been prevented by the exercise of reasonable care, and that he failed to exercise such reasonable care. Nonetheless, the owner of a dog is strictly liable for damages for injuries to persons or property caused by the dog and which the owner could have prevented and which did not result from the injured person's provocation of the dog. Nothing in this Article shall preclude the court from the application of the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur in an appropriate case. (Emphasis added.)
Mr. Guillory testified that, basically, his property is div
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