Mouton v. AAA Cooper Transp.
Mouton v. AAA Cooper Transp.
Opinion of the Court
This court issued a rule ordering Defendants-Appellants (hereinafter collectively referred to as Defendants), AAA Cooper Transportation, Inc. (ACT); Arthur Huguley (Huguley); and Ace American Insurance Company (Ace), to show cause, by brief only, why their appeal should not be dismissed as having been taken from the February 8, 2017 judgment which lacks proper decretal language, or, in the alternative, why the appeal (which has already been briefed) should not be suspended pending the receipt of a judgment containing proper decretal language. See Input/Output Marine Systems, Inc. v. Wilson Greatbatch, Technologies, Inc. ,
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On April 24, 2014, Curley Mouton (Mouton) was fatally injured in an automobile accident that occurred when the tire of the tractor-trailer rig driven by Huguley and owned by Huguley's employer, ACT, failed, which allegedly resulted in debris from the tire flying into the roadway. After Huguley's tire failed, the Mack truck being driven by Mouton left its lane of travel, struck and traveled through a guardrail on Interstate I-10, flipped over, hit a tree, and landed upside down in a drainage ditch. Plaintiffs-Appellees (hereinafter collectively referred to as Plaintiffs), Linda Mouton (the surviving spouse of the decedent) and Corey Mouton (the major son of the decedent), filed separate suits against Defendants. The suits were consolidated in the trial court.
Following a trial by jury, a verdict in favor of Plaintiffs was rendered. The jury apportioned ten percent (10%) of the fault to Huguley and ninety percent (90%) of the fault to ACT. Mouton was found to be free from fault. The jury awarded $67,702.22 (with $50,000.00 of that being *596damages for conscious mental and physical pain and suffering) in damages for the survival action; $410,000.00 in wrongful death damages to the surviving spouse; and $160,000.00 in wrongful death damages to the major son.
Plaintiffs filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV), seeking an increase in the survival action general damage award. The trial court granted the motion and increased the amount for general damages in the survival action from $50,000.00 to $150,000.00. Costs were also taxed. Thereafter, the total judgment was $737,702.52 plus court costs.
On February 8, 2017, the trial court signed a judgment which taxed costs for expert fees and increased the survival action general damage award to $150,000.00. On March 1, 2017, Defendants filed a motion for suspensive appeal, obtained a signed order of appeal, and posted an appeal bond. In due course, the record was lodged in this court and briefs by the Defendants and Plaintiffs were filed. Then, this court issued a rule ordering Defendants to show cause, by brief only, why their appeal should not be dismissed as having been taken from the February 8, 2017 judgment which lacks proper decretal language, or, in the alternative, why the appeal (which has already been briefed) should not be suspended pending the receipt of a judgment containing proper decretal language. See Input/Output Marine Sys. ,
DISCUSSION
In Input/Output Marine ,
In Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State Univ. & Agric. & Mech. Coll. v. Mid City Holdings, L.L.C. , 14-506, pp. 2-3 (La.App. 4 Cir. 10/15/14),
We cannot determine the merits of an appeal unless our jurisdiction is properly invoked by a valid final judgment. See Input/Output Marine Sys., Inc. v. Wilson Greatbatch, Tech., Inc. , 10-477, p. 12, (La.App. 5 Cir. 10/29 10),52 So.3d 909 , 915. "A judgment is the determination of the rights of the parties in an action and may award any relief to which the parties are entitled." La. C.C.P. art. 1841. "A valid judgment must be precise, definite and certain.... The decree alone indicates the decision.... The result decreed must be spelled out in lucid, unmistakable language..... The quality of definiteness is essential to a proper judgment. Input/Output Marine , 10-477, pp.12-13,52 So.3d at 915-16 (citations omitted).
... "The specific relief granted should be determinable from the judgment without reference to an extrinsic source such as pleadings or reasons for judgment." Input/Output Marine , 10-477, p. 13;52 So.3d at 916 .
The judgment signed by the trial court on February 8, 2017, stated with respect to damages only that:
[I]t is hereby:
ORDERED, DECREED, AND ADJUDGED that the Motion for Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict (JNOV) is GRANTED whereby the Court, after finding that the survival action general damage award by the jury was abusively low, increases said award from $50,000.00 dollars [sic] to $150,000.00 dollars [sic] for physical and mental paining [sic] and suffering incurred by the deceased, Curley Mouton.
*597The judgment does not name the parties against whom the judgment is rendered so that it is not evident as to which parties the judgment may be enforced. There is no mention of the amount of damages payable by the separate defendants according to the apportionment of fault. As a result, this judgment is not precise, definite or certain.
Defendants agree that the February 8, 2017 judgment lacks proper decretal language to confer appellate jurisdiction because the parties cast in judgment are not named and the relief granted is not specified. However, Defendants argue that this court should exercise its supervisory jurisdiction, vacate that judgment, render a final judgment, and then decide the merits of the appeal. See Zeigler v. Housing Auth. of New Orleans ,
Defendants also cite Succession of Poole , 15-1317, p. 7 (La.App. 1 Cir. 10/28/16),
In Zeigler ,
Then, in Poole ,
We find that reliance on Zeigler ,
*598In the alternative, Defendants ask that this court stay the appeal and remand the matter to the trial court for the limited purpose of rendering a final judgment. We find that this is the appropriate course of action in this case. Therefore, we decline to exercise our supervisory jurisdiction and, instead, stay the appeal and remand the matter to the trial court with instructions to enter a properly worded final judgment.
DECREE
For the reasons assigned herein, this court will not exercise its supervisory jurisdiction at present, but will suspend the appeal and remand this matter to the trial court with instructions to sign a judgment containing proper decretal language, including the names of the parties against whom the judgment is rendered (with a specification of the percentages of fault as assessed by the jury) and a specification of the increase in the award of general damages in the survival action (with a specification of the other damages awarded by the jury.).
APPEAL SUSPENDED. REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.
The judgment, should continue to contain the ruling on subrogation and the award of interest as set forth in the original October 31, 2016 judgment, and the taxing of costs for expert fees.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.