Picou v. Tedesco
Picou v. Tedesco
Opinion of the Court
This is an appeal from a July 30, 1992 judgment of the district court granted in accordance with a jury verdict. Judgment was granted in favor of the defendants Ted-esco Homes, Inc. and First Financial Insurance Co. and against the plaintiff Theresa Picou. Judgment on defendants’s third party demand against Florita Hyde was dismissed. The jury returned its verdict by means of interrogatories as follows:
1. Was the yard at 214 Seventh Street defective? Yes X No
If the answer is no, proceed to question 3. If the answer is yes, proceed to the next question.
3. Was Tedesco Homes, Inc. negligent in maintaining the yard at 214 Seventh Street?
If the answers to questions 1 and 3 are both no, return to the courtroom. If the answer to this question is yes, proceed to the next question.
10. What damages, if any, do you award the plaintiff as a result of the fall of Theresa Picou on August 18, 1990?
Past Medical expenses i -0-
Future Medical expenses -0-
Pain & suffering, both physical and mental -0-
Loss of earning capacity -0-
Permanent disability, if any -0-
TOTAL -0-
From that judgment, plaintiff appeals alleging the following specifications of error:
I. Whether the jury’s verdict stating that the yard at 214 Seventh Street was not defective was manifestly erroneous?
II. Whether the trial court erred by refusing to allow appellant’s challenges for cause against biased prospective jurors?
III.Whether the trial court erred by allowing evidence which tended to promote bias against appellant with respect to the issue of abortion?
TV. Whether appellant is entitled to compensation in the amount of $404,422.80?
The second and third issues deal with the question of abortion. Theresa Pieou had one abortion before the incident complained of and one after. The records from Causeway Medical Suite, where the procedures were performed indicate that in both instances Mrs. Pieou wrote on the form that the reason for the procedure was that she could not financially afford any more children. Mrs. Pieou already had five children. Plaintiff had attempted to include the second abortion as an element of damages, thus bringing the issue into play. A review of the voir dire indicates that plaintiff challenged jurors Mr. Michel, Ms. Steilberg, Ms. Voelker, Mr. Cappo and Ms. Heaphy for cause on the abortion issue. The trial judge excused jurors Michel, Steilberg, and Voelker either for cause or on preemptory challenges. Because the jury was then completed, Mr. Cap-po and Ms. Heaphy were also excused. Accordingly, none of the jurors that plaintiff challenged on the grounds of their views on abortion were on the jury. Plaintiff argues that some of the jurors must not have been truthful about their true feelings about abortion on voir dire and that their prejudice against abortion and therefore against Mrs. Pieou caused them to find against her. This argument is without merit. Even if this court were to review this matter de novo under Rossell v. ESCO, 549 So.2d 840 (La. 1989), we would find as the jury did, namely that Mrs. Pieou and her witnesses were not
For the reasons discussed, the judgment of the district court is affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.