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Williams v. City Baton Rouge4/30/1998
ng Lane, from 8:00 a.m. through 4:00 p.m. Private security guards hired by the City/Parish performed the security duties during the night hours.
Once the property had been secured by the City/Parish police, DPW commenced the excavation project. Employees for DPW dug three canals: one canal runs through the front of all three parcels of land, and a second canal traverses the adjoining tracts through the back; the third canal runs along the property line on the western edge of only the Williams tract. The project apparently took DPW between one and two months to complete.
Prior to the events on January 6, 1984, the City/Parish had received complaints from at least one resident of a subdivision adjacent to the plaintiffs' property, regarding problems with street flooding on Staring Lane. The gist of the complaints was that plaintiffs were permitting their property to be used as a landfill and specifically that they were filling in a ditch in the front of the Gage property with assorted types of fill. In May 1983, the City/Parish filed a suit for injunctive relief against the plaintiffs alleging that they were allowing refuse material to be dumped into a natural drainage channel, and that despite the City/Parish's attempt to have the landfill operations terminated, plaintiffs had refused to do so. At the hearing for the preliminary injunction, plaintiff John Raby was the only property owner present. The trial court granted the City/Parish the injunctive relief requested. Despite the court order, the ditch continued to be filled; the City/Parish filed a rule for contempt against John Raby. In November 1983, a motion to continue the rule was signed. The motion stated that "the parties . . . are in the midst . . . of hopefully finding a solution to the problems presented by this litigation [for injunctive relief] and would appreciate . . . time within which to . . . find a workable solution to the problems presented by this litigation." The matter has never been resumed; nor has the City/Parish ever instituted an expropriation proceeding to take the property that is the subject of this lawsuit.
On August 4, 1986, the Williams and Gage families filed a petition for damages; on August 25, 1986, the Raby family filed a similar petition based on the City/Parish's actions commencing on January 6, 1984. By order dated April 28, 1990, the two suits were consolidated. The petitions name as defendants: the City/Parish, DPW, Mayor Pat Screen, police officers Michael Shavers, Rickey Eiermann and Major Satterwhite of the Baton Rouge Police Department, DPW Director William Addison, DPW Assistant Director Robert Atkinson and DPW employee Emmett Braud. Additionally, Fidelity & Casualty Insurance Company (F & C) and Chicago Fire Insurance Company (Chicago) were named as the alleged insurers for all defendants.
After a five day trial on the merits, the trial court concluded the City/Parish and defendants Mayor Screen and DPW Director Addison, in both their official and individual capacities, were liable to plaintiffs and awarded damages totaling over $1,000,000.00. The trial court also concluded neither the F & C nor the Chicago insurance policy provided coverage to those defendants cast in judgment. A judgment in conformity with the trial court's rulings was signed on January 26, 1995. Plaintiffs, as well as the City/Parish, Mayor Screen, DPW Director Addison, Chicago, and F & C filed motions for new trial. After a hearing on May 1, 1995, the trial court determined neither Mayor Screen nor DPW Director Addison was liable in his individual capacity; additionally, the trial court reversed its earlier ruling and concluded both Chicago and F & C provided coverage for the def
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