St. Romain v. Baldwin
St. Romain v. Baldwin
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiff, Joseph St. Romain, brought this action against defendant, Russel T. Baldwin, for damages growing out of an alleged false arrest and malicious prosecution. He charged that Baldwin had caused him to be arrested and placed in the jail of the City of New Orleans and tried on the charges of theft of $20.00 and also breach of the peace by assault. The defendant, in reconvention, claimed damages in the amount of $1,000.00 for the alleged assault, which he itemized as pain and suffering, $500.00; humiliation and embarrassment, $500.00. On the trial of the case, the demands of the plaintiff were rejected and judgment was entered in favor of the defendant, plaintiff in reconvention, for $250.00. No written reasons were assigned.
The events which led to this litigation occurred on February 7, 1959 when the defendant, a school teacher at the Delgado Trade School, went to the used car lot where plaintiff was employed in the capacity as a used car salesman, with the intention of looking over and possibly buying or trading for one of the used cars on the lot. Plaintiff showed the defendant two automobiles, which were not to his
On the trial of the theft and assault charges against the defendant in the City Court, plaintiff in this case, the judge dismissed both charges, apparently on the grounds of insufficient evidence. The defendant in this case, who was the complaining witness in the criminal prosecution in the City Court, testified that when the dispute arose as to the time of the automobile sale and purchase, Joseph St. Ro-main caught hold of his wrist and jerked the card, which he had written the notations upon, from him. He claimed that he had the $20.00 bill attached to or wrapped around the card which St. Romain also took. Shortly after the altercation, he went to the police station and related to the officer in charge what had transpired, whereupon two police officers were dispatched to the used car lot, and after talking to Joseph St. Romain, one officer made the statement, referring to St. Ro-main : “ * * * and his attitude led me to believe that this should be brought to court. He didn’t try to explain that the money might have fallen on the ground, and he denied that he had taken the twenty dollar bill or a card from the complainant.” There is no evidence in the record to show who signed the affidavit or actually filed the charge against Baldwin. He admitted that he was the complaining witness in the case, and, unquestionably, the complaint was filed as a result of his having made the complaint. The trial court heard the witnesses and came to the conclusion that there was not sufficient evidence to justify a criminal conviction in the case and that it was possibly a matter for the Civil Court. We completely agree with the dismissal of the charges, as the complaining witness’s testimony was vague and uncertain and unsupported by other evidence to justify a criminal conviction. There certainly were grounds for a reasonable doubt.
On the trial of the case in the District Court below, we find so many inconsistencies and contradictions involving the testimony of Baldwin that we feel that the trial court erred in awarding him a judgment. The contradictions begin in his petition in reconvention wherein he states that he was thrown heavily to the floor of plaintiff’s place of business. There was no floor involved in the case, as it was on the used car lot. He did not mention having been thrown in his testimony in the criminal prosecution. He states in his petition that he suffered a hernia, which necessitated surgery, as a result of this assault. Certainly if he believed such to be a fact, he would have asked for doctor, medical, hospital and other special damages as were occasioned by the hernia operation. This he did not do, which cast suspicion upon his good faith, in our opinion. He asks $500.00 for pain and suffering, and there is no evidence by him, or anyone else, that he suffered any injury, pain or suffering. And it was only in the civil suit that he mentioned having been thrown, pushed, shoved or knocked
He also related two different stories as to why the transaction fell through. One was that the car, which he was about to buy, was marked $795.00 and that the salesman had made a price of $695.00 to him with an allowance of $200.00 on his car, making a net price of $495.00, and that when the owner of the lot knew the price quoted was $100.00 below the marked price, he nullified the deal. He then testified that the owner of the lot looked at his car and figured he could not allow $200.00 trade-in value, and that was the reason the deal was nullified.
Finding so many inconsistencies and contradictions in the testimony of plaintiff in reconvention, we are unable to determine upon what grounds the judge of the District Court allowed him the judgment. We think he has dismally failed to prove his case by a preponderance of the evidence. There is absolutly no evidence of his having suffered any physical damage, had he proved his case otherwise.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the District Court is affirmed in so far as it rejected the demands of the plaintiff, and reversed wherein it allowed judgment for the defendant, plaintiff in reconvention, and such demand is now dismissed, with costs to be paid by the plaintiff.
Affirmed in part; reversed in part.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.