KNOLL, Justice. * This criminal case, which is in a pre-trial posture, concerns the production of the witnesses for an in camera interview. Specifically, the issue is whether the District Court erred in ordering the State produce the witnesses for an in camera interview to advise the witnesses of their right to speak with defense counsel and ensure they do not possess exculpatory information, which has not yet been disclosed by the State. Defendants, Sullivan and Bernard Harper, were...
CIACCIO, J. * This case involves an alleged underpayment of workers' compensation benefits from the employer to the treating health care provider. The Louisiana Workers' Compensation Act ("LWCA") provides a reimbursement schedule, which sets forth maximum charges for medical treatment to workers' compensation patients. In this case, the payments to the health care provider were discounted below the reimbursement schedule pursuant to a preferred provider organization contract ("PPO"). We...
GUIDRY, Justice. * We granted the plaintiff's writ application to resolve a split in the circuits. The legal issue presented is whether a co-owner of timberland can be liable to his fellow co-owners for treble damages under La. Rev.Stat. 3:4278.1 when he cuts and sells the timber without the co-owners' consent. For the reasons set forth below, we conclude the punitive "timber trespass" statute is inapplicable against co-owners. Accordingly, we affirm the appellate court's judgment. FACTS and...
VICTORY, J. * We granted this writ application to determine whether the court of appeal erred in reversing the trial court's factual finding that Shelter Mutual Insurance Company ("Shelter") mailed a renewal notice to its insured, Pat Mabray ("Mabray"), such that the insured's nonpayment of the premium caused the policy to lapse and be ineffective at the time of the accident. After reviewing the record and the applicable law, we find the court of appeal violated the manifest error standard...
WEIMER, Justice. 1 This court granted plaintiff's writ application to determine whether an enforceable judicial mortgage existed when the clerk of court received a money judgment for recordation, but admittedly processed the judgment as a conveyance document rather than as a mortgage document within the clerk's computerized immovable property records system. Plaintiff sought to enforce the judgment against defendant purchasers who bought immovable property consisting of a home from the...
JOHNSON, Justice. 1 We granted this writ application to determine whether the court of appeal erred in finding: 1) Claimant, Wendy Ward, submitted sufficient evidence to prove she sustained a work-related injury to her hand; 2) Claimant was entitled to reinstatement of temporary total disability ("TTD") benefits to eighteen months past February 3, 2006; and 3) the evidence supported a finding that her employer, Iberia Medical Center, was arbitrary and capricious in terminating benefits so as...
GUIDRY, Justice. * We granted Lafayette Insurance Company's writ application in this class action lawsuit arising out of Hurricane Katrina to determine whether the lower courts correctly applied the standards for analyzing class certification set forth in Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure art. 591 et seq. After reviewing the record and the applicable law, we conclude the lower courts, under the facts of this case, erred in finding that common questions of law or fact exist, that substantive...
ON APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION TO THE BAR PER CURIAM. * The Committee on Bar Admissions ("Committee") opposed the application of petitioner, Jarred Patrick Bradley, to sit for the Louisiana Bar Examination based on character and fitness concerns stemming from his failure to disclose relevant information on his law school application. We subsequently granted petitioner permission to sit for the bar exam, with the provision that upon his successful completion of the exam, he apply to the court...
PER CURIAM. 1 Although defendant was only 16 years old when he shot and killed the victim, the state charged him as an adult in the 24th Judicial District Court with the crime of second degree murder in violation of R.S. 14:30.1. See La.Ch.C. art. 305(A)(1). After a bench trial in 2006, the trial court found him guilty of the lesser offense of manslaughter and sentenced him to 30 years imprisonment at hard labor. In 2008, the trial court then granted defendant an out-of-time appeal. The...
PER CURIAM. 1 The state charged defendant by bill of information with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, in violation of La.R.S. 40:967(A)(1), and with the illegal carrying of weapons while in possession of marijuana, in violation of La.R.S. 14:95(E). After trial by jury in May, 2008, defendant was found guilty on the responsive verdicts of attempted possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and attempted illegal carrying of weapons while in possession of marijuana. The...
VICTORY, J. * We granted this writ application to determine whether the court of appeal erred in reversing a trial court judgment which awarded joint custody to both parents with no domiciliary parent, and in granting sole custody to the mother. After considering the record and the applicable law, we reverse the judgment of the court of appeal and reinstate the trial court judgment awarding joint custody; however, we reverse the trial court judgment to the extent it failed to designate a...
PER CURIAM. * We granted certiorari in this case to determine whether this retail seller has a duty to instruct buyers on the proper method of wearing and fitting bicycle helmets. For the reasons that follow, we conclude plaintiffs failed to establish any legal duty on the part of the retailer under the facts presented. UNDERLYING FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY This case arises from an incident in which six-year-old Blake Carrier was injured while riding his bicycle on a municipal tennis...
ATTORNEY DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS PER CURIAM. * This disciplinary matter arises from formal charges filed by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel ("ODC") against respondent, Daniel E. Becnel, III, an attorney licensed to practice law in Louisiana. PRIOR DISCIPLINARY HISTORY Before we address the current charges, we find it helpful to review respondent's prior disciplinary history. Respondent was admitted to the practice of law in Louisiana in 1991. In 2005, this court considered a joint...
PER CURIAM. * We granted defendant's application for a writ of certiorari in this case on April 23, 2010. After hearing oral arguments and reviewing the record of the matter, we conclude the judgment below does not require the exercise of this court's supervisory authority. Accordingly, we recall our order of April 23, 2010 as improvidently granted, and we deny defendant's writ application. VICTORY and WEIMER, JJ., dissents and assign reasons. WEIMER, J., dissenting. I respectfully...
PER CURIAM. * We granted certiorari in this case to determine whether the district court abused its discretion in awarding damages in a class action suit resulting from a chemical leak. For the reasons that follow, we conclude the district court abused its discretion. UNDERLYING FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY This case arises from a chemical leak at a plant in Taft, Louisiana owned by defendant, Union Carbide Corporation. The leak commenced about 10:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 10, 1998,...
WEIMER, Justice. 1 This matter is before the court for a determination of whether the court of appeal erred in reducing the disciplinary sanction of termination of an employee which had been imposed by the New Orleans Public Library (NOPL) 2 and upheld by the New Orleans Civil Service Commission (CSC). For reasons that follow, we hold the sanction of termination based on the facts and circumstances of this case was not arbitrary and capricious or characterized by an abuse of discretion, and...
VICTORY, J. * We granted writ applications in this oilfield contamination "legacy litigation" 1 primarily to consider complicated issues of prescription, subsequent purchaser rights, restoration obligations, punitive damages, and ground water remediation obligations. After considering the record and the applicable law, we find the lower courts erred in applying the doctrine of contra non valentem to suspend prescription on plaintiffs' tort claims. Further, the oilfield contamination at...
PER CURIAM. * Neal Dauzat and the City of Marksville invoke the appellate jurisdiction of this court pursuant to La. Const. art. V, 5(D), on the ground the district court declared La. R.S. 13:5105(D) to be unconstitutional. Pretermitting the merits, we find the issue of constitutionality was not properly raised in this case. In Vallo v. Gayle Oil Company, Inc., 94-1238 (La.11/20/94), 646 So.2d 859 , we explained the unconstitutionality of a statute must be specially pleaded in the...
PER CURIAM. * The State of Louisiana, through the Department of Public Safety, Office of State Police, and State of Louisiana, through the Louisiana Gaming Control Board (collectively referred to hereinafter as "State") invoke the appellate jurisdiction of this court pursuant to La. Const. art. V, 5(D), on the ground that the district court declared portions of La. R.S. 27:28(H)(1) and La. Admin. Code, Title 42, part XIII, 2901(B)(2)(a) unconstitutional. For the reasons that follow, we...
PER CURIAM. 1 We granted the state's application to consider the correctness of the Fourth Circuit's decision overturning the trial court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress the marijuana found by New Orleans Police Officers concealed in a can of bug spray lying on the floorboard of a vehicle after a routine traffic stop. State v. Jackson, 09-1028 (La.App. 4th Cir.9/9/09), 17 So.3d 523 (Bonin, J., concurring). For reasons that follow, we reverse the decision of the court of appeal...
