Doucet v. Gulf Oil Corp.
Doucet v. Gulf Oil Corp.
Opinion of the Court
All of the parties agree that Louisiana’s Oilfield Indemnity Act
In Seckinger, the Court held that federal law controlled the interpretation of a contract between the federal government and a plumbing contractor in a suit brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act.
In Smith v. United States,
Prior to our decision in this case, another panel of this court had held that the Louisiana Oilfield Indemnity Act applies to private contracts for work relating to the development of natural resources on the outer continental shelf,
Following our decision in this case, another panel considered whether the Louisiana Act conflicts with federal common law. In Matte v. Zapata Offshore Co.,
As the Supreme Court made abundantly clear in Rodrigue, [v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 395 U.S. 352, 89 S.Ct. 1835, 23 L.Ed.2d 360 (1969)], Congress intend*252 ed that the law of the adjacent state would become surrogate federal law on fixed platforms on the Shelf, to the exclusion of rules of admiralty and common law. Even if Seckinger accurately reflected the federal common law applicable in an instance as is here presented, a proposition we do not accept, Seckinger ’s holding and rationale would not displace the law of Louisiana as ‘the law of the United States’ on the Shelf adjoining Louisiana.14
This conclusion conflicts with nothing in Seckinger or Smith.
Gulf also contends that a new trial should not be required because it was Doucet’s counsel who mentioned compensation during his direct examination of Doucet. Whether this resulted from some agreement between the parties that compensation might be mentioned we cannot determine, for neither the pretrial order nor the record mentions any such agreement. What is not in the pretrial order or on the record we have no way to know and are forbidden to consider. We can only review the record, and we do not take evidence to supplement or contradict it. The record shows that the trial court first mentioned compensation when instructing the jury at the start of the trial. Although Doucet’s counsel did not then object, neither his failure to do so nor his subsequent reference to compensation, as we stated in the opinion, precluded his later objecting to the jury charge, if it was erroneous. When the court solicited objections to the charge, Doucet promptly objected.
Even if an explanation of Doucet’s receipt of compensation were by this time permissible,
For these reasons, the application for rehearing is DENIED.
. La.R.S. 9:2780 (West Supp. 1985).
. 43 U.S.C.A. §§ 1331-1356 (West 1986).
. Id. at § 1333(a)(2)(A).
. 397 U.S. 203, 90 S.Ct. 880, 25 L.Ed.2d 224 (1970).
. 28 U.S.C. §§ 2671-2680 (1982).
. Seckinger, 397 U.S. at 219, 90 S.Ct. at 889, 25 L.Ed.2d at 237 (Stewart, J., dissenting).
. 497 F.2d 500 (5th Cir. 1974).
. Knapp v. Chevron, USA, Inc., 781 F.2d 1123 (5th Cir. 1986).
. Frazier v. Columbia Gas Dev. Corp., 596 F.Supp. 429 (W.D.La. 1984); Bryant v. Platform Well Serv., Inc., 563 F.Supp. 760 (E.D.La. 1983).
. 781 F.2d 1123 (5th Cir. 1986).
. 784 F.2d 628 (5th Cir. 1986).
. Matte, at 630.
. See contra Simmons v. Hoegh Lines, 784 F.2d 1234, 1236-37 (5th Cir. 1986).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Richard Joseph DOUCET v. GULF OIL CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellee Richard Joseph DOUCET v. GULF OIL CORPORATION, Defendant-Third Party v. DANOS & CUROLE MARINE CONTRACTORS, INC., Third Party Defendant-Appellant Richard Joseph DOUCET v. GULF OIL CORPORATION, Defendant-Third Party v. DANOS & CUROLE MARINE CONTRACTORS, INC., Third Party Cross-Appellee
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published