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Boudreaux v. State6/10/2005
friends. Some of the representative plaintiffs did try to salvage appliances and furnishings by either having qualified repairmen inspect, clean, and dry out damaged appliances or having friends or relatives with such credentials perform the work for them. Nevertheless, many of those plaintiffs stated that they experienced problems with the repaired items, such as rust and unraveling carpets, so that they ended up replacing the appliances and furnishings sooner than normal due to defects attributable to the flood. Several of the plaintiffs who did not attempt to clean or repair their clothing, furnishings, or appliances testified that they were averse to doing so because the goods were stained and contaminated by sewerage waste.
Moreover, most of the representative plaintiffs presented supplemental lists of lost or damaged items that were not included on their original claim forms at trial. It was expressly noted during the trial that the supplemental lists were not being presented to augment the original claim forms, but were introduced for the purpose of assisting the special master in determining whether the amounts claimed by the class plaintiffs on their original claim forms were, on average, too high, too low, or accurate.
The class plaintiffs also presented expert testimony to support the valuation of their claims for personal property loss and repair. The effect and weight to be given expert testimony is within the broad discretion of the trial judge. Burdette v. Drushell, 01-2494, p. 13 (La.App. 1st Cir.12/20/02), 837 So.2d 54, 65, writ denied, 03-0682 (La.5/16/03), 843 So.2d 1132. Unless the stated reasons of the expert are patently unsound, a determination of the expert's credibility is a factual issue to be resolved by the trier of fact. Lasyone v. Kansas City Southern Railroad, 00-2628, pp. 11-12 (La.4/3/01), 786 So.2d 682, 692.
The class plaintiffs offered Joseph P. Caulfield, a licensed public adjuster accepted by the special master as an expert, who opined that "the claim forms are grossly understated, and that, in most of these instances, these properties that are involved constituted total loss situations." As Mr. Caulfield explained, " hat I was asked to do was ... to determine the reasonableness of the claim forms that were submitted, whether they were high or low. And not specifically analyze loss by loss, but to look at the overall picture." Using insurance actuarial data and a national estimating guide, he calculated a base unit price to rebuild wood frame or brick veneer structures and applied that cost figure across the board to all homes for the representative plaintiffs, except mobile homes. After adjusting the figure for inflation and location costs, he multiplied it by the square footage of each home to get a total replacement cost. Fifty percent of the replacement cost is what he used to calculate the value of the contents lost in each structure. The class plaintiffs also presented the testimony of a local contractor who concurred in the construction cost estimates determined by Mr. Caulfield.
The special master, relying on expert testimony as well as the stipulation of parties in the Damages Procedure Order, awarded damages based on his valuation of the claims of the representative plaintiffs, and not on a claim-by-claim basis. Although we acknowledge that some of the class plaintiffs may receive an excessive award based on this calculation, based on the record before us, we cannot say that the special master erred in his determination. Accordingly, we must reject the State's contention regarding the award of damages for personal property losses and repairs.
The State raises several arguments in disagreement with the award fo
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