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Spears v. City of Scott11/2/2005
Court composed of Ulysses Gene Thibodeaux, Chief Judge, Michael G. Sullivan, and Elizabeth A. Pickett, Judges.
REVERSED IN PART, AMENDED IN PART, AND RENDERED.
This case involves a collision between an unmarked police vehicle and another vehicle at the intersection of Rue de Belier Road and West Congress Street in Lafayette. After a trial on the merits, the trial court assessed 50% fault to each driver and awarded damages. All parties appeal. For the following reasons, we reverse the assessment of fault to Plaintiff and increase the damages awarded as set forth herein.
Facts
At approximately 7:45 a.m. on September 18, 2000, Jerry Braun, a detective with the Scott Police Department, was driving to his office in an unmarked vehicle. While driving, he heard a dispatch call to Scott Police Officer Deon Bearb to respond to a fight in progress. Detective Braun was not assigned to go to the scene, but he called the dispatcher and advised that he was responding to assist Officer Bearb. He testified that he did this because Detective Bearb was working by himself that morning. As he responded, Detective Braun activated his emergency lights and siren. He testified that the siren is automatically activated when the emergency lights are turned on and that the siren speaker on an unmarked unit is under the hood of the vehicle.
Detective Braun testified that he approached the intersection in the northbound lane of Rue de Belier. There was traffic in the northbound lane and the left turn lane; it was stopped for the traffic light which was red. As he got closer to the intersection, Detective Braun moved into the turn lane. After making sure no traffic was in the southbound lane, he moved into that lane and drove around the traffic in front of him.
A bread truck was first in the left turn lane. When Detective Braun arrived at the intersection, the light was still red for the northbound traffic on Rue de Belier. He testified that, when he was adjacent to the bread truck, he went into the intersection at a forty-five-degree angle in front of the bread truck and came to a complete stop, explaining that he went into the intersection at an angle so westbound traffic could see his lights. At that point, he stopped and looked both ways to make sure no cars were coming and the intersection was clear. After he stopped, he proceeded into the intersection and was broadsided by a vehicle driven by Barbara Autin. Detective Braun testified that Ms. Autin's vehicle was not in the intersection when he entered it.
Ms. Autin testified that she was traveling west on West Congress. Before she entered the intersection, she heard a "faint" siren. She testified that she slowed down when she heard the siren. She heard the siren two to three seconds before she entered the intersection and heard it until the accident occurred, but it sounded "far away"; she could not tell where it was coming from. Ms. Autin testified that she had time to look to her left and right only once for an emergency vehicle because she was so close to the intersection, explaining: "I heard the siren and looked from side to side. I glanced very quickly to make sure there was nothing coming. I did not see anything; my path was clear so I proceeded through the intersection and the accident occurred." She further testified that she did not see anything but the bread truck.
Regarding Detective Braun's testimony that he parked his vehicle in front of the bread truck, Ms. Autin testified that she would have seen his vehicle and would have stopped, if he had parked in the manner he described. She also testified that, after Detective Braun got out of his vehicle, he raised his hands, s
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