Zurich Insurance Co. v. Doussan
Zurich Insurance Co. v. Doussan
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiffs, Zurich Insurance Company and Mrs. George Llopis
The defendants answered and in effect, generally denied the plaintiffs’ accusations of negligence. They then filed a third party action against Llopis wherein they insisted that the damage to the car was caused by his negligence.
From a judgment in favor of the defendants rejecting the plaintiffs demands, they have prosecuted this appeal.
The record discloses that George Llopis drove his wife’s 1964 Cadillac automobile into Doussan’s Service Station in order to obtain repairs to the windshield wipers and power windows thereof. It had begun to rain, and the wipers and windows failed to function properly, apparently because of some defect in the automobile’s electrical system. In any event, Norman Sutton, an employee of the service station, endeavored to effect repairs to the automobile at the request of Llopis.
Mr. and Mrs. Llopis were occupants of the front seat of the automobile and she moved to the extreme right thereof, and Llopis, the driver, moved to the center of the seat in order to permit Sutton access to the fuse box which was located under the left side of the automobile’s dashboard.
It is relatively undisputed that Sutton rested his right shoulder on the floor of the automobile and reached up to work on the fuse box with the lower extremities of his body remaining outside of the vehicle. While in this position, he replaced one fuse and the windshield wipers functioned. He then obtained another fuse, returned to the automobile and assumed the • same posture in order to replace the second fuse. At this time, for some reason which cannot be explained by any of the litigants, the plaintiff’s vehicle lurched forward and ultimately struck a wall in the service station. While the accident was transpiring, the lower portion of Sutton’s body remained outside the automobile and was dragged along the ground.
To say the very least, the record is in conflict as to whether the motor was left running while Sutton worked on the car. However, a fair interpretation of the testimony indicates that while the motor may have been off when he replaced the first fuse, it was apparently turned on in order to ascertain if the new fuse actually created the desired result. In any event, both Mr. and Mrs. Llopis related that they did
The whole tenor of the record convinces us that the lower court was correct when it concluded that no one present knew what caused the accident to occur; therefore it rejected the plaintiffs’ demand for the reason that they failed to bear their burden of proving negligence on the part of Sutton or of the other defendants.
On the appeal hereof the plaintiffs now assume the position that when Llopis moved over to the center of the front seat he delivered control of the car to Sutton, thereby creating a deposit thus placing the burden of exculpating themselves from negligence upon the defendants.
It is true that a mechanic or garageman to whom a vehicle is entrusted for repairs is a depositary within the contemplation of the appropriate Civil Code provisions relating to the contract of deposit.
In the last analysis we are compelled to reach the inevitable conclusion that the plaintiffs simply failed to prove their case with that reasonable and probable certainty which the law requires.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the lower court which dismissed the plaintiffs’ suit is affirmed. The plaintiffs are to pay all costs incurred herein.
Affirmed.
. Mrs. Llopis sued under the name Mrs. Emile J. Labat, Jr., for the reason that the automobile involved herein was registered in that name and her collision insurance policy was written in that name also.' When this accident occurred she had remarried and she will be referred to in this opinion as Mrs. Llopis.
. See Woodard v. St. Cyr, La.App., 201 So.2d 206 (1967).
. Civil Code Article 2930.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.