Ali Kazan v. Red Lion Hotels Corporation

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

STATE OF LOUISIANA
COURT OF APPEAL, THIRD CIRCUIT

CA 22-256 consolidated with CA 22-257

ALI KAZAN, ET AL.

VERSUS

RED LION HOTELS CORPORATION, ET AL.

consolidated with

GREAT LAKES INSURANCE SE

VERSUS

RED LION HOTELS CORPORATION, ET AL.

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APPEAL FROM THE
NINTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT
PARISH OF RAPIDES, NO. 263,393 C/W 264,346
HONORABLE PATRICIA EVANS KOCH, DISTRICT JUDGE

**********

BILLY H. EZELL

JUDGE

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Court composed of Elizabeth A. Pickett, Billy H. Ezell, and Shannon J.
Gremillion, Judges.

APPEALS BY GREAT LAKES INSURANCE SE DISMISSED AS
MOOT.

Sidney Wallis Degan, III
James Albert Rowell
Travis Louis Bourgeois
Jena W. Smith
Degan, Blanchard & Nash
400 Poydras Street, Suite 2600
New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 529-3333
COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT:
Great Lakes Insurance SE

Kevin R Derham
Duplass, Zwain, Bourgeois, Pfister, Weinstock & Bogart
3838 North Causeway Boulevard, #2900
Metairie, LA 70002
(504) 832-3700
COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT:
Great Lakes Insurance SE

Brian W. Harrell
Attorney at Law
5555 Hilton Avenue, # 620
Baton Rouge, LA 70808
(225) 610-1110
COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT:
Great Lakes Insurance SE

Charles Eustace Leche
Kari M. Rosamond
Deutsch Kerrigan, LLP
755 Magazine Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 593-0790
COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANTS/APPELLANTS:
Ketan Patel
Vitthal, LLC

Bryce Jefferson Denny
Attorney At Law
209 Polk Street
Mansfield, LA 71052
(318) 871-5007
COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANTS/APPELLANTS:
Ketan Patel
Vitthal, LLC

Henry Minor Pipes
Catherine Fornias Giarrusso
Kelsey L. Meeks
Pipes, Miles, Beckman, LLC
1100 Poydras Street., #1800
New Orleans, LA 70112
(504) 322-7070
COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANTS/APPELLEES:
Liberty Insurance Company
Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co.

W. Jay Luneau
Luneau Law Firm
5208 Jackson Street Extension, Suite A
Alexandria, LA 71315
(318) 445-6581
COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFFS/APPELLEES:
Ali Kazan individually and on behalf of deceased child Lia Kazan
Ebony Medlin individually and on behalf of deceased child Lia Kaza

Scott J. Chafin, Jr.
Brett P. Fenasci
Gregorio, Chafin, Johnson, Tabor & Fenasci, LLC
9284 Linwood Avenue
Shreveport, LA 71106
(318) 865-8680
COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFFS/APPELLEES:
Ali Kazan individually and on behalf of deceased child Lia Kazan
Ebony Medlin individually and on behalf of deceased child Lia Kaza

Christian Brownell Bogart
Duplass, Zwain, Bourgeois, Pfister, Weinstock & Bogart
3838 North Causeway Boulevard, #2900
Metairie, LA 70002
(504) 832-3700
COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANTS/APPELLEES:
Red Lion Hotels Franchising, Inc.
Red Lion Hotels Corporation

EZELL, Judge.

On April 25, 2022, this court ordered Appellant, Great Lakes Insurance SE (Great

Lakes), to show cause by brief only, why the appeals should not be dismissed as having

been taken from a non-appealable, interlocutory order. For the reasons stated herein,

we dismiss the appeals.

The instant case involves a wrongful death and survival action which Plaintiffs-

Appellees, Ali Kazan and Ebony Medlin, have filed individually and on behalf of their

now-deceased daughter, Lia Kazan, who was abducted/kidnapped from the America’s

Best Value Inn and ultimately killed. Plaintiffs have sued various defendants, including

Vitthal, LLC, which owns and operates the America’s Best Value Inn, and Great Lakes,

Vitthal’s liability insurer. The motel’s franchisors, Red Lion Hotels Corporation and

Red Lion Hotels Franchising, Inc., and their insurers, Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance

Company and Liberty Insurance Corporation, were also named as party defendants;

however, they have settled with Plaintiffs.

Great Lakes filed a motion in limine, seeking to have the trial court require the

jury to assess and compare the fault of all parties, including Anthony Murray, the

deceased kidnapper, who is not a party to the lawsuit. A hearing on the motion was

held on November 5, 2021, and the trial court denied Great Lakes’ motion in a written

judgment on November 8, 2021. Then, on November 30, 2021, the trial court signed

an “Order and Judgment Regarding Proceedings on November 5, 2021”, wherein the

court confirmed its bench rulings from November 5, 2021, denying Great Lakes’

motion in limine concerning the comparative fault issue. Also, pursuant to La.Code

Civ.P. art. 1915(B), the trial court designated the ruling as a final judgment appropriate

for appeal.

Great Lakes sought supervisory review of the trial court’s November 8, 2021,

judgment, and this court ruled on February 22, 2022, as follows:

WRIT GRANTED AND MADE PEREMPTORY. Although Plaintiffs-
Respondents, Ali Kazan and Ebony Medlin, maintain that the ruling in
Veazey, 851 So.2d 943 survives the 1996 amendments to La.Civ.Code arts.
2323 and 2324, this court has held that the Veazey case has been
superseded by the 1996 amendments. See Turner v. Shop Rite, Inc., 14-
315 (La.App. 3 Cir. 10/1/14), 149 So.3d 427, writ denied, 14-2302 (La.
1/23/15), 159 So.3d 1058. Because La.Civ.Code art. 2323, as amended,
expressly provides that “[i]n any action for damages where a person suffers
injury, death, or loss, the degree or percentage of fault of all persons
causing or contributing to the injury, death, or loss shall be determined . . . ”,
we find that the trial court erred when it denied the motion in limine
whereby Relator sought to have the jury be allowed to assess and apportion
fault to the intentional tortfeasor in the instant case. Therefore, we hereby
reverse the trial court and render judgment granting Relator’s motion in
limine.

Kazan v. Red Lion Hotels Corp., an unpublished opinion bearing docket number 21-

751 (La.App. 3 Cir. 2/22/22).

While the matter was pending before this court on supervisory writ, Great Lakes

sought appeals of the November 30, 2021 ruling. Upon the lodging of the appeals in

this court, on April 25, 2022, we issued a rule to show cause why the appeals should

not be dismissed as having been taken from a non-appealable, interlocutory ruling.

In Great Lakes’ response to the rule, it explains that when the trial court

subsequently entered an identical second judgment and then designated it as a final

judgment, Great Lakes was compelled to file appeals from the second judgment. Great

Lakes adds that had the second judgment become final through the failure to take an

appeal, its writ application would have been obviated, and no party could thereafter

have challenged the November 8, 2021 rulings as an interlocutory ruling, or the

November 30, 2021 rulings as a final judgment. Great Lakes stated that the exigencies

of the situation required both a supervisory writ and an appeal to preserve the parties’

rights to appellate review. Great Lakes concludes that this court should summarily enter

a judgment reversing the trial court’s final judgment of November 30, 2021, for the

same reasons set forth by this court in its February 22, 2022, ruling.

We find that the discussion of whether the appeals should be dismissed as having

been taken from a non-appealable, interlocutory ruling is pretermitted as the issue on

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appeal is now moot. This court has ruled on the identical issue set forth in the trial

court’s November 8, 2021 judgment, and thus, all issues in the present appeals have

already been decided. Accordingly, we hereby dismiss the appeals as moot.

APPEALS BY GREAT LAKES INSURANCE SE DISMISSED AS MOOT.

THIS OPINION IS NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION.
Uniform Rules―Courts of Appeal, Rule 2-16.3.

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