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Roccaforte v. Nintendo of America11/29/2005
Panel composed of Judges Marion F. Edwards, Susan M. Chehardy, and Walter J. Rothschild
AMENDED AND AFFIRMED AS AMENDED
Nintendo of America, Inc., defendant, appeals a ruling that assessed damages against it for contempt and sanctions, and also awarded attorneys' fees to the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs have answered the appeal, seeking additional attorneys' fees for this appeal. We amend to grant additional attorneys' fees and, as amended, we affirm.
BACKGROUND
This is the second appeal in this personal injury lawsuit, in which Gerald and Sally Roccaforte allege that their son, Gerald "Joey" Roccaforte, developed epilepsy as a result of playing Nintendo video games. The plaintiffs sought recovery under the Louisiana Products Liability Act against the video game manufacturer, Nintendo of America, Inc. ("Nintendo"). The case went to trial in January 2000.
During the trial, Nintendo belatedly produced hundreds of pages of documents that should have been produced in response to a pretrial order compelling production of documents. Plaintiffs sought and obtained a contempt ruling and an order for monetary sanctions against Nintendo, but the ruling did not specify an amount.
After a seven-day trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Nintendo. The jury found that Nintendo did not provide an adequate warning of the seizure risk from playing video games, but that the products were not unreasonably dangerous in design, and that the failure to provide adequate warning was not the proximate cause of Joey's injuries. Accordingly, the trial court entered judgment dismissing the claims. The court subsequently denied the plaintiffs' motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and for new trial.
On appeal, the plaintiffs' primary contention was that Nintendo's persistent failure to respond fully to discovery orders had damaged their case.
In Roccaforte v. Nintendo of America, Inc., 01-210 (La.App. 5 Cir. 11/14/01), 802 So.2d 764, we held that Nintendo had deliberately misled the court and counsel by withholding evidence that should have been disclosed during discovery and that materially affected the plaintiffs' ability to present their case. We vacated the jury verdict, reversed the trial court's denial of the plaintiffs' motion for new trial, upheld the trial court's grant of sanctions against the defendant, and ordered the trial court to impose a specific amount of monetary sanctions on remand of the matter. The supreme court denied writs. Roccaforte v. Nintendo of America, Inc., 01-3301 (La. 3/8/02), 811 So.2d 884.
On remand, on April 20, 2004 the trial court ordered that as an appropriate sanction for the defendant's contempt, the defendant was to pay a total of $181,620.86, comprising $31,620.80 for the plaintiff's costs and expenses, and $150,000.00 attorneys' fees.
The judgment itemized the amounts as follows:
$2,807.67
| 307.54
| 1,483.50
| 1,886.60
| 53.00
| 22,290.00
| 1,914.88
| 99.89
| 777.78
| 150,000.00
| $181,620.86
|
In separate rulings on the same date, the trial court denied the plaintiffs' Third Motion for Contempt and also denied the plaintiffs' Motion for Default and/or To Strike Nintendo's Defenses.
CURRENT APPEAL
In the appeal now before us, Nintendo asserts the April 2004 judgment must be set aside. Nintendo argue
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