Opinion ID: 1823099
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Civil Trial

Text: On February 12, 1993, the Plaintiffs, Roland Gibson, his wife and two sons, filed the instant civil suit against the State of Louisiana, Lloyd West, the New Orleans District Attorney's Office, and the City [6] seeking damages for false arrest and imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and personal injury in connection with Roland Gibson's twenty-five-year incarceration. The trial court found the State and District Attorney to be immune under La.Rev. Stat. 42:1441 A and dismissed all claims against them. On February 18, 1998, after a bifurcated trial, the trial court found the Police did not have reasonable and trustworthy information sufficient to believe Mr. Gibson had committed a crime. The court rendered judgment awarding Plaintiffs a total of $11,674,624, with fault allocated ten percent to West and ninety percent to the City. The City appealed, asserting the trial court erred in finding no probable cause existed for the arrest of Gibson, in holding the City was liable for damages allegedly occasioned upon Plaintiffs for Gibson's false arrest, conviction, and twenty-five year incarceration, and in allocating ninety percent of the fault to the City. The court of appeal, amended fault to include comparative fault of the District Attorney regardless of immunity as required by the La. Civ.Code art. 2323. [7] 98-1100 (La.App. 4 Cir. 2/24/99), 731 So.2d 379. The court of appeal found the trial court erred in holding the Police, rather then [sic] the District Attorney, primarily liable for Gibson's wrongful conviction and incarceration and re-apportioned forty-five percent of the fault to the State, forty-five percent to the City, and ten percent to West. The court of appeal affirmed the remainder of the trial court judgment. The City sought writs with this court.