STATE OF LOUISIANA COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT MARIA MCCRANEY NO. 2021 CW 0619

VERSUS

THE CITY OF BATON NOVEMBER 12, 2021 ROUGE/ PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE

In Re: The City of Baton Rouge/ Parish of East Baton Rouge, applying for supervisory writs, 19th Judicial District Court, Parish of East Baton Rouge, No. 605851.

BEFORE: McDONALD, LANIER, AND WOLFE, JJ.

WRIT GRANTED. We grant the writ and reverse the May 17, 2021 judgment of the trial court that denied the City of Baton Rouge/ Parish of East Baton Rouge' s motion for summary judgment seeking dismissal of all claims asserted against it by Maria McCraney (" McCraney"). Pursuant to La. R. S. 9: 2800, in order to prove a public entity is liable for damages caused by a thing, the plaintiff must establish: ( 1) custody or ownership of the defective thing by the public entity; ( 2) the defect created an unreasonable risk of harm; ( 3) the public entity had actual or constructive notice of the defect; ( 4) the public entity failed to take corrective action within a reasonable time; and 5) causation. The City of Baton Rouge/ Parish of East Baton Rouge can prevail on its motion for summary judgment if McCraney is unable to provide factual support sufficient to establish the existence of a genuine issue of material fact as to any one of these essential elements. See La. Civ. Code P. art. 966( D)( 1).

Here, McCraney has not provided factual support to show a genuine issue of material fact as to the several essential elements of her claim, that the alleged defect created an unreasonable risk of harm, that the City of Baton Rouge/ Parish of East Baton Rouge had actual or constructive notice of the alleged defect, or that the City of Baton Rouge/ Parish of East Baton Rouge failed to take corrective action within a reasonable time if it had notice. Accordingly, we find no genuine issue as to material fact on these elements and we grant the motion for summary judgment filed by the City of Baton Rouge/ Parish of East Baton Rouge and dismiss the claims of plaintiff, Maria McCraney, against the defendant, City of Baton Rouge/ Parish of East Baton Rouge.

JLC!

WIL EW

COOF APPEAL, FIR CIRCUIT

DE UTY CLE F COURT FOR THE COURT