Case Name: J. Lee CALHOUN, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. STATE of Louisiana, through the DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS, Defendant and Appellee
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1963-03-13
Citations: 152 So. 2d 866
Docket Number: No. 836
Parties: J. Lee CALHOUN, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. STATE of Louisiana, through the DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS, Defendant and Appellee.
Judges: Before SAVOY, FRUGÉ and HOOD, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 152
Pages: 866–872

Head Matter:
J. Lee CALHOUN, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. STATE of Louisiana, through the DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS, Defendant and Appellee.
No. 836.
Court of Appeal of Louisiana. Third Circuit.
March 13, 1963.
On the Merits May 14, 1963.
Rehearing Denied June 12, 1963.
Love & Hodges, by Lloyd F. Love, Ferri-day, for plaintiff-appellant.
D. Ross Banister, Glenn S. Darsey and Chester E. Martin, by Chester E. Martin, Baton Rouge, for defendant-appellee.
Before SAVOY, FRUGÉ and HOOD, JJ.

Opinion:
HOOD, Judge.
This matter is before us at this time solely on a motion to dismiss the appeal, which motion was filed by the defendant-appellee, State of Louisiana, through the Department of Highways.
In his original and two supplemental and amended petitions, plaintiff Calhoun alleges, in substance, that in a prior suit the defendant had taken and expropriated a servitude or right-of-way for highway purposes over and across plaintiff's land, but that the construction of a road on and along that right-of-way would cause him to suffer damages and irreparable loss. He demands (1) that a temporary restraining order issue restraining defendant from proceeding to construct a highway along said right-of-way ; (2) that a rule issue directing defendant to show cause why a preliminary injunction to the same effect should not be issued; (3) that judgment be rendered ordering the defendant to move the location of its servitude or right-of-way to a new route or location which was described in the pleadings; and (4) that judgment be rendered directing defendant to complete a contract previously entered into relating to the construction of a highway on plaintiff's property.
Two temporary restraining orders were issued at different times in response to these pleadings, both of which orders have expired by law and under the express provisions of the orders themselves. No hearing was held on the rule to show cause why a preliminary injunction should not be granted, and no order or decree granting a preliminary injunction has ever been issued. The defendant, in response to the original and both amended petitions, filed an exception of no right of action, alleging and contending that plaintiff has no right to sub stitute a different servitude for the one which had been formally expropriated by defendant in a prior suit. After a hearing, judgment was rendered by the trial court on November 27, 1962, sustaining that exception, and a formal decree sustaining the exception and dismissing the suit at plaintiff's prejudice was read and signed on December 3, 1962. Plaintiff's motion for a new trial was denied on December 7, 1962, and on the same day plaintiff moved for and was granted a devolutive and suspensive appeal, returnable on March 7,, 1963, the appeal bond being set at $500.00. The appeal bond was furnished on December 19, 1962, which was sixteen days after the date on which the judgment appealed from had been rendered.
Shortly after the record was lodged in this Court, the defendant-appellee filed a motion to dismiss the appeal on the ground that the judgment appealed from was one relating to a preliminary injunction, and that the appeal was not perfected within fifteen days after the judgment was rendered, as required by C.C.P. Article 3612. The matter is before us now on that motion.
The third paragraph of Article 3612 of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure provides, in part, that:
"An appeal from an order or judgment relating to a preliminary injunction must be taken and a bond furnished within fifteen days from the date of the order or judgment
One of the sources of C.C.P. Article 3612 was Act 29 of 1924, which was later included in the 1950 Revised Statutes as R.S. 13:4070 (repealed by Act 32 of 1960). The former, or source,, statute provided that "where upon a hearing, a preliminary writ of injunction shall have been granted, continued, refused or dissolved by an interlocutory order or decree," a devolutive appeal may be taken from such order or decree, but that any such appeal "must be taken and bond furnished within ten days from entry of such order or decree."
Prior to the effective date of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure the jurisprudence was established to the effect that the limitation of ten days within which to appeal, as provided in Act 29 of 1924 (LSA-R.S. 13:4070), referred only to an interlocutory order or decree relating to a preliminary injunction, and that it did not apply to an appeal from a final judgment disposing of plaintiff's right to an injunction, by deciding the case on its merits. See Brock v. Stassi, 189 La. 88, 179 So. 44; Donaldson's Heirs v. City of New Orleans, 166 La. 1059, 118 So. 134; Oliver v. Shreveport Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board, La.App. 2 Cir., 88 So.2d 405; State ex rel. Coker v. Hamlin, La.App.Orleans, 40 So.2d 687; Tuggle v. Bolin, La.App. 2 Cir., 65 So.2d 811; Everett v. Hue & Aarnes, 173 La. 420, 137 So. 201; and Baton Rouge Production Credit Ass'n v. Newsom, La. App. 1 Cir., 191 So. 154.
Comment (b) under Article 3612 of the Code of Civil Procedure indicates that no change was intended by paragraph three of that Article, except that the delay was extended from ten to fifteen days. It seems to us, therefore, that the rule established by the above-cited jurisprudence is still applicable, and that the delay of fifteen days for taking an appeal, as provided in the third paragraph of Article 3612 of the Code of Civil Procedure, does not apply to a final judgment which disposes of the case on its merits.
In the instant suit the judgment appealed from is a final judgment, which disposes not only of plaintiff's demand for a preliminary injunction, but also of his right to obtain a permanent injunction, his demand for judgment ordering defendant to relocate its servitude or right-of-way, and his demand that defendant be directed to complete its contract for the construction of a highway. It is not merely an interlocutory decree "relating to a preliminary injunction," but it is a final decree disposing of the case on its merits. In our opinion, therefore, the fifteen-day delay for taking an appeal from an order or decree relating to a preliminary injunction, as provided in Article 3612 of the Code of Civil Procedure, is not applicable here. Instead, since the judgment appealed from is a final judgment disposing of the case on its merits, we conclude that the delays for appealing are those provided in Articles 2087 and 2123 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to devolu-tive and suspensive appeals generally.
The appeal in this case was perfected within the delays allowed by either or both of the last-cited Articles of the Code of Civil Procedure, and accordingly, the motion to dismiss the appeal must be denied. No issue is raised in this motion as to whether the appeal was perfected as a sus-pensive or as a devolutive appeal, so it is not necessary for us to consider that question.
For the reasons herein assigned, therefore, the motion to dismiss the appeal filed by defendant-appellee is denied.
Motion to dismiss appeal denied.