Case Name: Patricia J. GONZALEZ v. Monty MONTELONGO and The State of Louisiana, Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Office of the State Police
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 2019-01-07
Citations: 259 So. 3d 1015
Docket Number: No. 2019-CC-32
Parties: Patricia J. GONZALEZ
v.
Monty MONTELONGO and The State of Louisiana, Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Office of the State Police
Judges: CLARK, J., would grant and reverse.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Third Series
Volume: 259
Pages: 1015–1015

Head Matter:
Patricia J. GONZALEZ
v.
Monty MONTELONGO and The State of Louisiana, Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Office of the State Police
No. 2019-CC-32
Supreme Court of Louisiana.
January 7, 2019
ON SUPERVISORY WRITS TO THE CIVIL DISTRICT COURT FOR THE PARISH OF ORLEANS
Writ application granted in part.
CLARK, J., would grant and reverse.
HUGHES, J., dissents and assigns reasons.
CRICHTON, J., would grant and reverse.

Opinion:
Hughes, J., dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. The opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court in Graham v. Connor , 490 U.S. 386, 396, 109 S.Ct. 1865, 104 L.Ed.2d 443 (1989), as well as the opinions of this court in Mathieu v. Imperial Toy Corp. , 94-0952 (La. 11/30/94), 646 So.2d 318, and Kyle v. City of New Orleans , 353 So.2d 969 (La. 1977) are controlling, without qualification. The issue in this case is not plaintiff's level of intoxication, but what happened at the time of the incident.
According to this court's order, if plaintiff does not testify about her "level of intoxication," the defense may not open this door by asking leading questions on cross examination.
The officer's observations and the results of the field sobriety test are admissible. But the uncertified intoxilyzer results from two hours later cannot be used to prejudice the plaintiff in the eyes of the jury under the guise of impeaching her credibility on what happened at the time of the incident.