STATE OF LOUISIANA COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT DEBRA AND RUSSEL MARBURY NO. 2022 CW 0825 VERSUS CRACKER BARREL OLD COUNTRY STORE, INC. AND SAFETY

NATIONAL CASUALTY AUGUST 5, 2022 CORPORATION In Re: Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc., Safety National Casualty Corporation, Allied World National Assurance Company, and Megan Childers, applying for supervisory writs, 19th Judicial District Court, Parish of East Baton Rouge, No. 668769.

BEFORE : WHIPPLE, C.J., GUIDRY AND WOLFE, JJ.

WRIT GRANTED. The district court’s August 2, 2022 ruling denying the motion in limine filed by defendants, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc., Safety National Casualty Corporation, Allied World National Assurance Company, and Megan Childers, is reversed. The testimony of the plaintiffs, Debra and Russell Marbury, as to what another restaurant patron, believed to be Justin Richardson, said will have little value other than to prove the truth of the matter asserted. See La. Code Evid. art. 801(C); see also Braud v. Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., Inc., 618 So.2d 1069, 1073 (La. App. lst Cir. 1993).

Accordingly, the motion in limine filed by the defendants is granted, and the testimony of the plaintiffs and/or any other witnesses regarding statements made by the unidentified customer who is believed to be Justin Richardson is excluded as inadmissible hearsay.

VGW COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT Asa) DEPUTY CLERK OF COURT FOR THE COURT