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Nunez v. Commercial Union Insurance Co.8/23/2000
GLENN B. GREMILLION JUDGE
AFFIRMED AS AMENDED.
The defendant, the State of Louisiana, Department of Public Safety and Corrections (DPSC), appeals the judgment rendered by the trial court following a jury's verdict in favor of the plaintiffs, Clayton and Lillian Nunez. For the following reasons, we affirm the judgment as amended.
FACTS
Louisiana Highway 385 (Gulf Highway) intersects with Louisiana Highway 3092 (Gauthier Road), south of Lake Charles, near the Burton Coliseum in Calcasieu Parish. On May 20, 1996, two accidents occurred at that intersection. The first accident rendered the traffic lights at the intersection inoperable. The first law enforcement personnel on the scene of this accident was a deputy with the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Department, who immediately commenced directing traffic through the intersection. This accident was investigated by troopers with the Louisiana State Police, who arrived shortly after the deputy. The second accident occurred before the traffic lights could be restored to operation. At the time of this accident, no one was directing traffic through the intersection. There is controversy over the question of who controlled the intersection at the time of the second accident. The state troopers allege that the deputy left the intersection before they could assume control. The deputy alleges that he turned control of the intersection over to the state troopers before he left the scene to continue his criminal patrol. This appeal concerns the second accident.
At approximately noon on May 20, 1996, Clayton was driving a 1988 Lincoln sedan south on Gulf Highway, with Lillian as his passenger. Garrett Hoffpauir, the minor son of Earl Hoffpauir, was traveling east on Gauthier Road in his father's 1991 Chevrolet truck. Both vehicles entered the intersection at the same time and collided. The collision caused the Nunezes' vehicle to eventually land on its side in a ditch located on the west side of Gulf Highway, south of the intersection. As a result of this accident, the Nunezes filed suit against the State, through the DPSC, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Department (Sheriff's Department) and its insurer, Coregis Insurance Company, and Earl Hoffpauir and his insurer, American Central Insurance Company. After numerous procedural maneuvers, including cross claims and interventions, the Nunezes filed a Motion to Reduce Demand for Damages. They claimed that Clayton's damages did not exceed $50,000; thus, he moved to have his claims tried as a bench trial. After hearing argument on the motion, the trial court granted the motion and Clayton entered a stipulation that his damages were less than $50,000 and that he was not seeking a judgment over that amount. Writs were sought on this issue by the Sheriff's Department and American Central Insurance. In an unpublished opinion, this court held that Clayton's and Lillian's claims were cumulated and should be tried together by a jury; thus, the trial court erred in ordering Clayton's claims tried by a bench trial even though he had declared his damages to be less than $50,000. Nunez v. Commercial Union Ins. Co., an unpublished writ 98-1087, 98-1095 (La.App. 3 Cir. 7/21/98).
A jury trial was held in this matter between May 4-7, 1999. Following the presentation of evidence, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the Nunezes, finding DPSC 100% at fault in causing the accident and awarding damages as follows:
Clayton Nunez
1) Past medical expenses: $31,696.90
2) Physical and mental pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life: $250,000.00
3) Disability: $75,000.00
Lillian Nunez
1)
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