Opinion ID: 1833794
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Stevedores's Fault

Text: The jury assessed Stevedores with 72.4% fault. In their consideration of this jury finding, the lower courts rested their reversal on the failure of Broussard to present evidence in support of its assertion that Stevedores was at fault. After carefully reviewing the record, we find that the facts and inferences do not point so strongly and overwhelmingly in favor of Stevedores that reasonable persons might have reached a different conclusion. When a defendant urges the fault of a non-party, it is incumbent upon that defendant to provide evidence which preponderates that fault actually exists on the part of the non-party. Terro, 631 So.2d at 651; Smith, 633 So.2d at 694. The common standard of proof in civil cases is a preponderance of the evidence. Lasha v. Olin Corp., 625 So.2d 1002, 1005 (La.1993); Succession of Lyons, 452 So.2d 1161, 1165 (La.1984). Proof by direct or circumstantial evidence is sufficient to constitute a preponderance, when taking the evidence as a whole, such proof shows that the fact or causation sought to be proved is more probable than not. Lasha, 625 So.2d at 1005; Jordan v. Travelers Ins. Co., 257 La. 995, 245 So.2d 151, 155 (1971); see also ODECO Oil & Gas Co. v. Nunez, 532 So.2d 453, 456 (La.App. 1 Cir.1988), writ denied, 535 So.2d 745 (La.1989); Starks v. Kelly, 435 So.2d 552, 556 (La.App. 1 Cir.1983); FRANK L. MARAIST, 19 LOUISIANA CIVIL LAW TREATISE: EVIDENCE & PROOF, § 4.2 (1999). Circumstantial evidence is defined as evidence of facts or circumstances from which one might infer or conclude the existence of other connected facts. Circumstantial evidence consists of proof of collateral facts and circumstances from which the existence of the main fact may be inferred according to reason and common experience. State v. Wade, 33,121 (La.App. 2 Cir. 5/15/00), 758 So.2d 987. LA.CODE EVID. art. 302(4) defines an inference as a conclusion that an evidentiary fact exists based on the establishment of a predicate fact. Circumstantial evidence may be as persuasive as testimonial or direct evidence in providing a compelling demonstration of the existence or nonexistence of a fact at issue. Rodgers v. Food Lion, Inc., 32,856 (La.App. 2 Cir. 4/5/00), 756 So.2d 624, 628; writ denied, 00-1268 (La.6/16/00), 765 So.2d 339; Crawford v. Ryan's Family Steak Houses, Inc., 31,911 (La.App. 2 Cir. 5/5/99), 741 So.2d 96. In Rougeau v. Commercial Union Ins. Co., 432 So.2d 1162 (La.App. 3 Cir.), writ denied, 437 So.2d 1149 (La.1983), the Third Circuit stated: The party against whom a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict is made must be given the benefit of every legitimate and reasonable inference that can be drawn from the evidence by the jury. However, the court is not bound by inferences which are unreasonable.... There is no bright line which enables the court to distinguish between the reasonable, legitimate inference and the unreasonable, illegitimate inference. There is no precise rule to follow. The court can only test the reasonableness of the inferences drawn by the jury from the evidence in terms of probability. An inference is legitimate only where the evidence offered makes the existence of the fact to be inferred more probable than not. Any lesser test would allow the jury to rest a verdict on speculation or conjecture. Rougeau, 432 So.2d at 1167; see Ford Motor Co. v. McDavid, 259 F.2d 261, 266 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 358 U.S. 908, 79 S.Ct. 234, 3 L.Ed.2d 229 (1958). In the present case, Broussard contended that the fault of Stevedores rested on two contentions: first, that the stacking of rice pallets three-high was dangerous; and second, that it failed to notify Broussard that it had received a bad lot of rice when if off-loaded the rice pallets from the trucks which were used to transport the rice from Broussard to the Port's warehouses. As to Broussard's first contention, it offered no evidence to show specifically how the stacking of rick pallets three-high was dangerous. The lack of specific evidence weakens this argument. A mere common-sense appreciation of the height of the stacked pallets is all that can be discerned. Moreover, the record shows that initially Keith Broussard (Keith), the owner of the Broussard Rice Mill, testified that he was unaware that Stevedores stacked the rice pallets three high in the warehouses. A careful review of the evidence, however, shows that Keith's testimony did not bear out this assertion. To the contrary, the evidence shows that Keith had visited the Port almost yearly for more than a decade and had seen that the rice pallets were warehoused three or four-high. [8] Keith further stated that he did not have problems with such stacking and that he never complained either to the Port authorities or to Stevedores about this warehouse practice. Thus, there is no record evidence to support Broussard's initial assertion. However, we find Broussard's second assertion provided a basis for which a reasonable jury could have found Stevedores at fault, i.e., that reasonable minds could differ. Broussard further contended that it was incumbent upon Stevedores to notify if the Port received rice shipments which were not properly stacked and glued. In essence, Broussard asserted that this was the Port policy. As we set out earlier, it was Broussard's burden to present evidence which would preponderate that such policy existed. Although Broussard attempted to present the expert testimony of Jules Verbenne about such policy, the trial judge sustained Joseph's objection to this testimony on the grounds that Verbenne had no personal knowledge of such policy, and had not even inquired of anyone at the Port about the existence of such policy. Nevertheless, we find other evidence from which reasonable jurors could have inferred that such policy existed and could have relied upon such evidence to support a finding that Stevedores was comparatively at fault for injuries that Joseph, its employee, sustained. Initially, we note that the evidence shows that once the rice is delivered to the Port, Broussard loses control over the rice. This is evidenced by uncontradicted testimony that warehousemen hired by Stevedores unload and stack the rice in the warehouses and a clerk hired by Stevedores makes certain that the rice is stored in the proper warehouse. Keith further stated without disputation that Stevedores has a duty to inspect the rice pallets as they are first off-loaded from the trucks; he also testified that if the rice is not properly layered on the pallets, personnel at the Port could either return the rice shipment to Broussard for remediation or Port personnel could restack the rice pallets at Broussard's expense. Indicative of that policy was Keith's testimony that early on when the mill first began using polyweave sacks, Broussard was contacted that there was a problem with sacks slipping from the pallets when they arrived at the Port. As a result of that contact, Broussard remediated the problem by choosing to apply a bead of glue to the polyweave rice sacks as the final step before its workers crosstied the rice sacks on the pallets. Moreover, it was Keith's unrefuted testimony that once the rice is delivered to the Port, Broussard no longer owns the rice. At that point, Keith testified that the buyer of the rice requests the hiring of the labor, pays for loading the rice on the ships, and designates from which warehouse the rice is removed for shipment. Accordingly, under these circumstances, we find that reasonable jurors could have determined that Stevedores bore the brunt of the fault for Joseph's injuries because it failed to demand remediation of the rice lot from Broussard as it was removed from the trucks, and thereafter chose to stack these faulty lots of rice three pallets high in the warehouse. As such, we find that the lower courts impermissibly ignored inferences that the jury reasonably could have drawn regarding Stevedores's liability. It is clear that reasonable minds could differ and arrive at a contrary verdict. Thus, the lower courts erred in granting plaintiffs motion for a JNOV, reversing the jury's allocation of fault to Stevedores. We will reinstate the jury verdict on this issue.