Willie Brown, Jr. v. Breaux Bridge Ventures, LLC

STATE OF LOUISIANA
COURT OF APPEAL, THIRD CIRCUIT

16-662

WILLIE BROWN, JR.

VERSUS

BREAUX BRIDGE VENTURES, LLC

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APPEAL FROM THE
SIXTEENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT
PARISH OF ST. MARTIN, NO. 81561
HONORABLE ANTHONY THIBODEAUX, DISTRICT JUDGE

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JIMMIE C. PETERS
JUDGE

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Court composed of Jimmie C. Peters, Shannon J. Gremillion, and Phyllis M. Keaty,
Judges.

APPEAL DISMISSED; REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.

Nelson W. Wagar, III
Sarah H. Hickman
Wagar Richard Kutcher Tygier & Luminais, LLP
Two Lakeway Center, Suite 900
3850 North Causeway Boulevard
Metairie, LA 70002
(504) 830-3838
COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT:
Breaux Bridge Ventures, LLC d/b/a Silver’s Casino

R. Scott Iles
P. O. Box 3385
Lafayette, LA 70502
(337) 234-8800
COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF/APPELLEE:
Willie Brown, Jr.

PETERS, J.

The defendant, Breaux Bridge Ventures, LLC, d/b/a Silver‟s Casino, appeals

the trial court‟s grant of a judgment notwithstanding the verdict and an award of

$250,000.00 in future general damages to the plaintiff, Willie Brown, Jr., for

injuries he sustained after tripping and falling on the defendant‟s premises. We

cannot consider this appeal because we lack jurisdiction to hear the appeal based

on the fact that there exists no valid final judgment to review. Therefore, we

dismiss the appeal without prejudice and remand the matter to the trial court for the

rendering of a valid judgment to which the litigants may file appropriate

subsequent pleadings.

DISCUSSION OF THE RECORD

Breaux Bridge Ventures, LLC (Breaux Bridge Ventures) operates a business

known as Silver‟s Casino (casino) in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, and this litigation

arises from an October 13, 2013 accident wherein Mr. Brown tripped over the edge

of a sidewalk while entering the casino. In doing so, he fell to the concrete surface
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hitting his head, left shoulder, and right knee.

Between October of 2013 and April of 2014, Dr. Matthew Abraham, a

Lafayette, Louisiana family practitioner, treated Mr. Brown for his injuries. When

diagnostic test results suggested the need for an orthopedic evaluation and

treatment, Dr. Abraham referred Mr. Brown to Dr. Louis Blanda, a Lafayette,

Louisiana orthopedic surgeon. Dr. Blanda treated Mr. Brown from April of 2014,

through the beginning of trial of this matter in September of 2015. Based on his

evaluation and treatment, Dr. Blanda recommended that Mr. Brown undergo a C4-

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The factual background concerning the accident is somewhat complicated and involves
a power outage at the casino, which caused the evacuation of the casino. Mr. Brown sustained
his injury when he was returning to the casino at the instruction of a security guard. However,
fault is not at issue in this appeal, and a basic summary of the accident background is sufficient
to address the quantum issue raised on appeal.

5 and C5-6 anterior cervical discectomy and fusion with plate and graft and a

carpal tunnel release. He suggested that the cervical disc condition was the more

pressing problem and estimated that the surgery would cost $85,000.00.

Dr. Neil Romero, a Lafayette, Louisiana orthopedic surgeon, saw Mr. Brown

on one occasion at the request of Breaux Bridge Ventures, and based on his

examination, concluded that Mr. Brown‟s shoulder, rather than his neck, was more

probably the source of his pain. He recommended that before proceeding to

surgery, Mr. Brown‟s shoulder should be injected to see if that treatment provided

him any relief. He estimated the cost of the injection to be $1,000.00.

Mr. Brown brought suit against Breaux Bridge Ventures to recover the

damages he sustained in the accident, and the matter ultimately proceeded to a trial

by jury. During the three-day jury trial beginning on September 28, 2015, the

litigants stipulated that Mr. Brown‟s past medical expenses totaled $16,525.66. In

its verdict, the jury concluded that Mr. Brown did sustain compensable injuries in

his accident of October 13, 2013, but assessed him with forty-five percent of the

fault in causing the accident and his resultant injuries; and assessed the remaining

fifty-five percent to Breaux Bridge Ventures. The jury then considered the damage

issues and returned a verdict finding that Mr. Brown sustained the following

additional special and general damages as a result of the accident:

FUTURE MEDICAL EXPENSES $ 86,000.00

PAST AND FUTURE $ 25,000.00
Physical and mental pain and
suffering and physical impairment

PAST AND FUTURE $ 25,000.00
Loss of Enjoyment of Life

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The reduction of the total damage calculation of $152,525.66 by Mr. Brown‟s

percentage of fault resulted in a net verdict in his favor of $83,889.11.

The December 28, 2015 judgment executed by the trial court did not follow

the form or substance of the jury verdict with regard to the general damage
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awards. Instead, the judgment listed the damages as follows:

Past (stipulated) medical expenses $16,525.66
Future medical expenses $86,000.00
Past and present general damages $25,000.00
Future general damages $25,000.00

(Emphasis added.)

Thus, the trial court judgment changed the substance of the jury award on general

damages by changing the award categories and allotting one-half of the award to

past and present general damages and one-half to future general damages.

Unfortunately, this change in the jury verdict found its way into the trial court‟s

analysis of Mr. Brown‟s subsequent motion for judgment notwithstanding the

verdict (JNOV) as well.

After the trial court executed the December 28, 2015 judgment, Mr. Brown

moved for a JNOV, or in the alternative, for a new trial. His JNOV referenced the

specifics of the trial court judgment and not the jury verdict by seeking an increase

in the judgment‟s past and present damage award from $25,000.00 to $350,000.00,

and an increase in the judgment‟s future general damage award from $25,000.00 to
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$100,000.00. Additionally, he sought a reduction of the jury‟s fault determination

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This total included the stipulated amount for past medical expenses.
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The judgment itself contains no evidence that either litigant approved it as to form.
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Mr. Brown restated these same amounts in his memorandum in support of his motions.
Breaux Bridge Ventures‟ memorandum in opposition to the motions simply stated that the
amounts should not be increased.
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attributed to him and an increase in the percentage of fault assigned to Breaux

Bridge Ventures.

Following argument at a March 4, 2016 hearing on these post-judgment

motions, the trial court rejected Mr. Brown‟s motion for a new trial as well as that

portion of his JNOV addressing the percentage of fault assigned by the jury. After

noting that it was “impressed with the jury‟s ability to assign comparative fault[,]”

the trial court stated the following with regard to the quantum issue:

I don‟t understand them seeing the need for $85,000 in future
medical expenses. That‟s the cost of the future surgery. And I
understand your argument, well, they probably thought since fifteen
months had passed, he never had the surgery, he‟s probably just going
to pocket the money, okay? If that‟s what they were thinking, then
that‟s wrong. If he has a need for a surgery – some people delay –
then he‟s going to have the surgery. And if he‟s going to have the
surgery, then he‟s going to have to – you know, there‟s some damages
that are associated with it, and they‟ve assigned it. It‟s only $25,000
and that‟s way low. I think I‟m duty-bound to raise that to
$250,000.00. And so I‟m granting your judgment notwithstanding the
verdict in that way.

The trial court executed a judgment on March 21, 2016, conforming to its

ruling on the post-trial motions. That judgment read in pertinent part as follows:

IT IS ORDERED, ADJDUGED AND DECREED that the
Motion for New Trial is DENIED.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND
DECREED that plaintiffs [sic] Motion for JNOV regarding
assessment of comparative fault is DENIED for reasons orally
assigned at the hearing.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND
DECREED that plaintiff‟s Motion for JNOV regarding the award of
general future damages is GRANTED and the jury award to the
plaintiff of $25,000.00 is increased to $250,000.00.

IT IS FINALLY ORDERED AND DECREED that all costs
of these proceedings are assessed against the defendant.

(Emphasis added.)

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The language of this judgment leaves no question but that the trial court‟s

judgment had the effect of increasing the future general damage award recorded in

its December 28, 2015 judgment to $250,000.00. However, the judgment left

unanswered any question concerning the status of the request for an increase in the
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past and present general damage award.

The March 21, 2016 judgment represents the judgment from which Breaux

Bridge Ventures seeks relief on appeal. In its only assignment of error, Breaux

Bridge Ventures assert that the trial court erred in granting the JNOV and awarding

additional future general damages to Mr. Brown. Although Mr. Brown did not

appeal nor answer the appeal of Breaux Bridge Ventures, his brief to this court

repeats the position of his JNOV – that he is entitled to an increase of the past and

present general damage award to $350,000.00 and an increase in the future general
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damage award to $100,000.00.

OPINION

We are unable to reach the merits of Breaux Bridge Venture‟s appeal before

us because, on our own motion, we notice at the outset that this court lacks the

jurisdiction to hear that appeal. This is because whether a jury returns a special

verdict or general verdict accompanied by interrogatories, the judgment must

correspond to the verdict of the jury. See La.Code Civ.P. arts. 1812(D) and

1813(C). Additionally, La.Code Civ.P. art. 1916(A) provides, in pertinent part,

that “[a]fter a trial by jury, the court shall prepare and sign a judgment in

accordance with the verdict of the jury[.]” (Emphasis added.)

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The judgment contains no evidence that either litigant approved it as to form.
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Neither Breaux Bridge Ventures nor Mr. Brown mention the fact that the trial court
awarded Mr. Brown $150,000.00 more in future general damages than he requested in his JNOV.
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The trial court executed the December 28, 2015 judgment on the erroneous

conclusion that the jury had rendered a verdict setting Mr. Brown‟s past and

present general damages at $25,000.00 and setting his future general damages at

$25,000.00. This clearly was not the case, and the judgment rendered is invalid on

its face. As stated in Input/Output Marine Systems, Inc. v. Wilson Greatbach,

Technologies, 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. This court

cannot determine the merits of an appeal unless our jurisdiction is properly

invoked by a valid final judgment.” See also Ardoin v. Hartford Accident & Indem.

Co., 350 So.2d 205 (La.App. 3 Cir. 1977), rev’d in part on other grounds, 360

So.2d 1331 (La.1978).

DISPOSITION

For the foregoing reasons, we dismiss the appeal filed by Breaux Bridge

Venture, LLC, d/b/a Silver‟s Casino, without prejudice to the appellant, and

remand this matter with instructions to the trial court to execute a judgment

corresponding to the jury verdict rendered in this matter. We assess the costs of

this appeal equally between Breaux Bridge Ventures, LLC, d/b/a Silver‟s Casino

and Willie Brown, Jr.

APPEAL DISMISSED; REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.

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