Case Name: Joseph STABLIER et ux v. CITY OF BATON ROUGE and Parish of East Baton Rouge
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1980-11-10
Citations: 393 So. 2d 148
Docket Number: No. 13236
Parties: Joseph STABLIER et ux v. CITY OF BATON ROUGE and Parish of East Baton Rouge.
Judges: Before ELLIS, COVINGTON, LOTTINGER, CHIASSON, EDWARDS, PONDER, LEAR, COLE and WATKINS, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 393
Pages: 148–153

Head Matter:
Joseph STABLIER et ux v. CITY OF BATON ROUGE and Parish of East Baton Rouge.
No. 13236.
Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.
Nov. 10, 1980.
On Rehearing Jan. 26, 1981.
Gary L. Keyser, Baton Rouge, for plaintiff-appellee, Joseph Stablier et ux.
Frank J. Gremillion, Baton Rouge, for defendant-appellant, City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge.
Before ELLIS, COVINGTON, LOTTINGER, CHIASSON, EDWARDS, PONDER, LEAR, COLE and WATKINS, JJ.

Opinion:
EDWARDS, Judge.
Plaintiffs, Joseph and Dorothy Stablier, brought suit against the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge seeking damages for injuries suffered by Mrs. Stablier when the ground in her yard suddenly collapsed beneath the lawn mower on which she was riding, throwing her off the mower and injuring her back. The collapse occurred under the grass located between the public sidewalk and street and was caused by a leak in the storm drain pipe underground which allowed dirt to be eroded and absorbed into the pipe and an underground chasm to be formed. Evidence at trial showed that the storm pipe facilities were in the possession of and under the control of the City-Parish.
The trial court found that while the hole into which Mrs. Stablier fell had not existed prior to the accident, nevertheless the City-Parish was liable since it had constructive notice of the defective drain pipe and should have conducted a continuous inspection plan.
Judgment was awarded to Mrs. Stablier in the amount of $5,000. Mr. Stablier was awarded $1,370.78 for medical expenses. Expert witness fees and interest were taxed against the defendants. From that judgment the City-Parish appeals.
The City-Parish bases its appeal on the ground that defendants had no notice of the defective storm pipe, whether actual or constructive.
Jones v. City of Baton Rouge, La., 388 So.2d 737 (1980), held that LSA-C.C. Art. 2317 applies to public bodies. Knowledge or notice of the existence of the defective storm pipe is, therefore, irrelevant.
The storm drain pipe was in defendants' custody. That there was a leak and that a hidden chasm formed which resulted in Mrs. Stablier's injuries is proof that the drain was defective. Marquez v. City Stores Company, 371 So.2d 810 (1979). The risk of falling into a hole while riding on presumably solid ground is clearly unreasonable. With these elements established, the City-Parish can only escape liability by showing that Mrs. Stablier's injuries were caused by her own fault, the fault of a third person, or by an irresistible force. Loescher v. Parr, 324 So.2d 441 (1975). Because none of these defenses were proved, the City-Parish was properly found liable.
Under Loescher, a plaintiff had relatively few problems in proving that the thing causing damage was in defendant's custody and that plaintiff was, in fact, harmed by the thing. Plaintiff's real difficulty came in proving that the thing causing harm was defective. Marquez appears to have removed that difficulty and to have paved the yellow brick road to judgment.
In Marquez, the Supreme Court stated:
"The fact that this escalator caught this child's shoe is an unusual occurrence in itself which would not have happened had this escalator not been defective . If this escalator were safe for small children with small feet, then James' shoe could not have been caught in this opening."
This line of reasoning virtually equates "unusual occurrence" with the presence of a defect.
We find this logic strained, at best. It is a far-reaching decision, even further tipping the scales in favor of plaintiffs and approaching absolute liability as a practical matter. Nevertheless, we feel bound to follow the reasoning. At least in the present case, we are confident that the City-Parish was truly at fault, even without the tortured analysis of Marquez.
For the foregoing reasons, the trial court judgment is affirmed. All costs, both trial and appellate, are to be paid by the City of Baton Rouge and the Parish of East Baton Rouge.
AFFIRMED.
LEAR, J., dissents and assigns reasons.
. LSA-C.C. Art. 2317 provides:
"We are responsible, not only for the damage occasioned by our own act, but for that which is caused by the act of persons for whom we are answerable, or of the things which we have in our custody. This, however, is to be understood with the following modifications."
. So apparently do Justice Blanche and Justice ad hoc delaHoussaye. See their dissent in Hunt v. City Stores, Inc., La., 387 So.2d 585 (1980).