Lonesome Development, LLC v. Town of Abita Springs

STATE OF LOUISIANA

FIRST CIRCUIT

NO. 2024 CA 0967

LONESOME DEVELOPMENT, LLC

VERSUS

Judgment Rendered: FEB 2 12025

On Appeal from the
22nd Judicial District Court
Parish of St. Tammany, State of Louisiana
Trial Court No. 2019- 14436

The Honorable William H. Burris, Judge Presiding

Alex B. Rothenberg Attorneys for Plaintiff A
- ppellee,
Howard E. Sinor, Jr. Lonesome Development, LLC
Phillip J. Antis, Jr.
New Orleans, Louisiana

Bruce A. Cranner Attorneys for Defendant -Appellant,
Magdalena Majka
Dan Curtis, in his official capacity
Mandeville, Louisiana as Mayor of the Town of Abita Springs
and in his individual capacity

BEFORE: WOLFE, MILLER, AND GREENE, JJ.

WOLFE, I

This is an appeal of a contempt judgment granted by the trial court against the

mayor of the Town of Abita Springs. For the following reasons, we dismiss this

appeal based on the law -of the
- -case doctrine.

This is the third appeal arising out of the underlying litigation between

Lonesome Development, LLC ( Lonesome) and the Town of Abita Springs and its

Mayor, Dan Curtis. The underlying facts have been fully set forth in this court' s

earlier opinions, Lonesome Development, LLC v. Town of Abita Springs, 2021-
021-

14631463 ( La. App. 1st Cir. 6/ 29/ 22), 343 So. 3d 831, writ denied, 2022- 01158 ( La.

11/ 1/ 22), 349 So. 3d 3 ( Lonesome 1), and Lonesome Development, LLC v. Town

of Abita Springs, 2024- 0396 ( La. App. I st Cir. 12/ 13/ 24), So. 3d -_, 2024 WL

5102212, rehearing denied, ( La. App. I st Cir. 12/ 27/ 24) ( Lonesome 11).

We focus on the facts relevant to this particular appeal, which is the second

attempt by Mayor Curtis to overturn the trial court' s February 29, 2024 judgment

finding Mayor Curtis in contempt of court and ordering him to be incarcerated
indefinitely until he agrees to come into compliance with the final and definitive

judgment rendered in favor of Lonesome on April 5, 2022. The 2022 judgment

ordered, among other relief, that Abita Springs comply with and render specific

performance in accordance with the terms of a Planned Unit Development

Agreement executed by Lonesome and Abita Springs in January 2018. See

Lonesome 1, 343 So. 3d at 833- 34. This court affirmed the 2022 judgment, and after

the Louisiana Supreme Court denied Abita Springs' writ, that judgment became final

and definitive. See Lonesome 11, So. 3d at , 2024 WL 5102212 at * 3.

Over a year after the 2022 judgment had become final and definitive,

Lonesome filed a motion to enforce the judgment and for contempt and sanctions.

The trial court heard the matter on February 7, 2024, and at the conclusion of the

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hearing, the trial court found Mayor Curtis in contempt of court. On February 29,

2024, the trial court signed a judgment ordering Mayor Curtis to be incarcerated

indefinitely until he agrees to come into compliance with the final and definitive

2022 judgment. Abita Springs and Mayor Curtis suspensively appealed separately,

with Mayor Curtis filing briefs in both appeals. See Lonesome II, So. 3d at ,

2024 WL 5102212 at * 3. [ R. 190] The appeal filed by Abita Springs was lodged

before Mayor Curtis' s instant appeal, which resulted in this Court' s December 13,

2024, Lonesome II decision that affirmed the contempt judgment. Lonesome II,

So. 3d at , 2024 WL 51002212 at * 9. Mayor Curtis raises identical

assignments of error in this appeal and files identical peremptory exceptions raising

the objections of res,judicata and no cause of action, all of which have already been

fully considered and decided in favor of Lonesome and against Mayor Curtis.

Lonesome II, So. 3d at , 2024 WL 51002212 at * 9, n. 12. Accordingly,

Lonesome filed a motion to dismiss this appeal on the basis of the law -of t-he -case

doctrine.' Mayor Curtis opposed.

LAW AND ANALYSIS

Lonesome' s position regarding the law -of t-he -case doctrine has merit.

Pursuant to that doctrine, an appellate court will not revisit its own ruling of law on
a subsequent appeal in the same case. See Reed v. Louisiana Horticulture

Commission, 2021- 0657 (La. App. 1 st Cir. 12/ 22/ 21), 341 So. 3d 66, 70, writ denied,

2022- 00284 ( La. 4/ 12/ 22), 336 So. 3d 89. The law -of the
- -case doctrine is the proper

procedural principle for describing the relationship between prior judgments by trial
and appellate courts rendered within the same case. Id. In Lonesome' s motion to

dismiss this appeal, Lonesome correctly points out that both parties recognize that

the issues in this appeal and the appeal decided in Lonesome II are identical. In his

We reference Lonesome' s motion as one to dismiss, even though captioned as a " motion to
terminate."

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opposition brief, Mayor Curtis acknowledges that the issues are the same in both

appeals, which prompted the parties' joint motion to consolidate. However, Mayor

Curtis argues that the prior appeal decision did not consider the due process issues

he raised in his individual capacity. We disagree with Mayor Curtis' s assertion. The

opinion in the prior appeal clearly noted the mayor' s arguments about his individual

versus representative capacity. See Lonesome 11, So. 3d at , 2024 WL

5102212 at * 4, n. 8. Further, the mayor' s argument is irrelevant to this appeal,

because the contempt judgment was rendered against him in his official capacity,
not in his individual capacity. Therefore, Mayor Curtis' s individual liability is not

before us.

Since the contempt judgment has already been fully considered and affirmed
by this court, we find that the law -of t-he -case doctrine requires us to grant

Lonesome' s motion and dismiss this appeal. Consequently, the contempt judgment

in this appeal remains affirmed for the reasons thoroughly discussed in Lonesome
11. For those same reasons, we find that Mayor Curtis' s exceptions of res judicata

and no cause of action are moot and are therefore denied.

CONCLUSION

For the stated reasons, we grant Lonesome Development, LLC' s motion to

dismiss this appeal based on the law -of t-he -case doctrine, because the February 29,
2024 contempt judgment has been affirmed by this court in Lonesome

Development, LLC v. Town of Abita Springs, 2024- 0396 ( La. App. 1st Cir.

12/ 13/ 24), _ So. 3d _, 2024 WL 5102212, rehearing denied, ( La. App. 1st Cir.

12/ 27/ 24).
Mayor Dan Curtis' s peremptory exceptions of res judicata and no cause
of action are denied as moot. Appeal costs are assessed against Mayor Dan Curtis

in his official capacity.

MOTION TO DISMISS GRANTED AND APPEAL DISMISSED;
EXCEPTIONS DENIED.

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