Opinion ID: 1704851
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: Reduction of Rachel's General Damages

Text: In reducing Rachel's general damage award, the majority finds it excessive and states: A review of the cases involving similar injuries reveals that the highest amount that could reasonably be awarded under the facts of this case is $6,000,000. Duncan, slip op. at 15 and footnote 6 (referencing a 1993 case involving a 15-year old boy ). There are several major errors in the majority's analysis on this issue which also render this conclusion contrary to our well established jurisprudence. The majority fails to heed that the jury assessed the effects of Rachel's quadriplegic injury on this 11 year old girl (at the time of the accident) given the paramount acts of negligence by KCS and inadvertent acts of negligence by Mitchell. There is no question that the jury had sympathy for Rachel as it would be inhumane not to. But evidence more compelling than sympathy was presented to the jury that showed Rachel as the beautiful, young girl she was, and is, whose beauty, personality, intelligence, and wholesomeness was reflected in a review of yet a cold record. It is clear from the record that she has not given up on life in spite of her quadriplegic condition. She now has her hopes and dreams as a quadriplegic. Simply stated, the jury was faced with a fantastic, young girl who suffered horrendous injuries and based its award for the particular injury for this particular tort victim under these circumstances. As a woman, Rachel's injury will affect her childbearing ability unless the medical sciences can miraculously intervene. Her injuries have invaded every facet and emotional aspect of a woman's life, but the most serious impact of Rachel's injury is her loss of life expectancy. It is sad that we have to declare this, but this statement is caused by the reality of litigation. Surely the jury was cognizant of Rachel's loss of life expectancy since the record clearly preponderated this fact. This probably explains the jury's award for future medicals beyond the age of 57, to 81 years, as an award to Rachel for her loss of life expectancy. Notwithstanding, the jury's general damage award was based upon the tort victim before them. In stark contrast, the majority references Simpson v. State, Through DOTD, 636 So.2d 608 (La.App. 1 Cir.1993), writ denied, 94-0042, 04-0047, 94-1005 (La.5/6/94), 637 So.2d 471, a case which is vastly dissimilar to Rachel's. Although the Simpson case concerned a tragic accident, it involved an older tort victim of the opposite sex, and did not pertain to a quadriplegic. Moreover, the quantum recognized in Simpson is time-dated by approximately six years and fails to consider the diminishing effect of inflation. See Dolmo v. Williams, 99-0169 (La. App. 4 Cir. 9/22/99), 753 So.2d 844; Jackson v. CSX Transp., Inc., 97-0109 (La. App. 4 Cir. 12/23/97), 712 So.2d 514, 523; Ruiz v. Oniate, 96-2211 (La.App. 4 Cir. 8/6/97), 697 So.2d 1373, 1386, reversed on other grounds, 97-2412 (La.5/19/98), 713 So.2d 442. For the foregoing reasons, I respectfully dissent.