Case Name: Shellie J. SEALS v. Eugene MORRIS, et al.; Sylvester L. HARRY v. Eugene MORRIS, et al.
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1981-09-28
Citations: 410 So. 2d 715
Docket Number: No. 80-C-2291
Parties: Shellie J. SEALS v. Eugene MORRIS, et al. Sylvester L. HARRY v. Eugene MORRIS, et al.
Judges: DENNIS, J., concurs with reasons.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 410
Pages: 715–720

Head Matter:
Shellie J. SEALS v. Eugene MORRIS, et al. Sylvester L. HARRY v. Eugene MORRIS, et al.
No. 80-C-2291.
Supreme Court of Louisiana.
Sept. 28, 1981.
On Rehearing March 1, 1982.
Herbert R. Alexander, Jim W. Richardson, Jr., Bogalusa, for plaintiff-applicant.
John J. Hainkel, Jr., of Porteous, Toleda-no, Hainkel & Johnson, New Orleans, Edward A. Griffis, of Talley, Anthony, Huges & Knight, Bogalusa, for defendants-respondents.

Opinion:
LEMMON, Justice.
This is a tort suit in which plaintiff seeks to recover the damages he sustained in an intersectional collision. The trial court held defendant liable for entering the intersection without stopping for the stop sign facing him. The court of appeal reversed, concluding the accident was inevitable, in that defendant lost control of his truck when he was frightened by the discovery of a snake crawling on his shoulder. 387 So.2d 1220. We granted certiorari to review that judgment. 393 So.2d 745.
After fishing in a wooded area, defendant was driving on a dirt road at a reasonable speed and was approaching the intersection with a favored roadway, when he noticed a green snake on his shoulder. In the panic following this sudden and unexpected occurrence he lost control of his truck and proceeded past a stop sign into the intersection, where he collided with plaintiff's car.
The principal defense at trial and on appeal was that the accident was unavoidable, in that it was not caused by any negligence or unreasonable conduct on defendant's part.
Delictual responsibility in Louisiana is based on fault. C.C. Art. 2315. Fault is a more comprehensive term than negligence, and fault encompasses many acts which are not morally wrong, but are merely violative of laws or of legal duties. Langlois v. Allied Chemicals, 258 La. 1067, 249 So.2d 133 (1971).
Defendant had a duty to keep his vehicle under proper control and to refrain from entering the intersection until it was safe to do so. Plaintiff proved that his damages were caused solely because defendant did not maintain proper control and did not yield the right-of-way. Plaintiff thus established his own freedom from fault and a prima facie case of fault on defendant's part.
Faced with this proof that he breached his duty involving the right-of-way and injured a blameless approaching motorist, defendant can only escape responsibility by exculpating himself from any fault whatsoever. Simon v. Ford Motor Co., 282 So.2d 126 (La.1973). To do so plaintiff must prove that the damages to the fault-free motorist were caused by the fault of a third person or by some external circumstance sufficient to discharge him from responsibility. Since there is no contention of fault chargeable to a third person, the critical issue is whether the external circumstance urged by defendant was sufficient to discharge him from responsibility to the innocent tort victim who was injured when defendant breached his duty.
Breaches of delictual or contractual duties may be excused when the breaches are caused by an irresistible force or a fortuitous event, each of which is defined in the Civil Code. There is no codal authority for excusing a breach of duty for a lesser external circumstance.
Defendant argues, however, that his breach of duty should be excused because he acted reasonably. While this is the standard for judging negligence, the damages in this case resulted from defendant's non-negligent fault. To excuse himself from responsibility for this fault defendant must show something more than that he acted reasonably. He must show that the damages resulted from some external circumstance sufficient to discharge him from responsibility for his fault.
The presence of the snake was perhaps momentarily frightening and unforeseen, but is not such an external circumstance that defendant should be discharged from responsibility to an innocent tort victim for damages caused by his fault.
The trial court correctly rendered judgment against defendant Eugene Morris and his insurer, Southeastern Fidelity Insurance Company. By reversing that judgment, the court of appeal did not reach the insurance coverage issue urged by defendant Fidelity and Guaranty Underwriters or the quantum issue raised by plaintiff. The case must be remanded for adjudication of those issues.
Accordingly, the judgment of the court of appeal is reversed, and the judgment of the district court is reinstated. The matter is remanded to the court of appeal to adjudicate the remaining issues not reached in the original decision on appeal. Costs are assessed to Morris and to any other parties ultimately cast in judgment.
DENNIS, J., concurs with reasons.
WATSON, J., concurs in the result.
CALOGERO, J., dissents.
. Consolidated under the same docket number in this court is a suit by Sylvester Harry, plaintiffs guest passenger. For the purpose of this opinion "plaintiff' refers to Shellie Seals and "defendant" refers to Eugene Morris and/or his insurers.
. We do not decide the case on a strict liability basis, as we did in Loescher v. Parr, 324 So.2d 441 (La.1975), in which liability was imposed under C.C. Art. 2317 on the custodian of a defective thing, without proof of the custodian's knowledge of the defect or of his failure to properly maintain the thing. In the case of Arceneaux v. Domingue, 365 So.2d 1330 (La. 1978), liability without fault was imposed under C.C. Art. 2317 on the owner of an automobile when the accident was caused by the car's defective brakes. In both cases, once the plaintiff proved a defect in the thing under the owner's custody and damages resulting because of the defect in the thing, proof of knowledge of the defective condition of the thing in custody was not required.
In the present case there was no proof that damages were caused by a defect in the thing in defendant's custody (unless a truck with a snake in the cab can be viewed as defective). Nevertheless, even without reliance on strict liability theories, plaintiffs proof in this case shifted to defendant the burden of proceeding with evidence to exculpate himself from responsibility.
. An irresistible force results from a power which cannot be resisted. C.C. Art. 3556(14). The entry and presence of the snake in defendant's truck can hardly be classified as the result of irresistible power.
. Defendant's parking with open windows near bushes and under trees in a wooded area more probably than not permitted the snake to enter the cab. While this parking was not unreasonable, the entry of the snake did not result from an irresistible force.