Coblentz v. North Peters Parking, Inc.

• Decision Date: 11 October 1988
• Docket Number: No. 88-CA-0433,88-CA-0433
• Citation: 533 So.2d 98
• Parties: Christopher E. COBLENTZ v. NORTH PETERS PARKING, INC., R. Guerico & Son, Inc., Sentry Insurance Company, John Doe and United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

Page 98

533 So.2d 98

Christopher E. COBLENTZ v. NORTH PETERS PARKING, INC., R. Guerico & Son, Inc., Sentry Insurance Company, John Doe and United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company.

No. 88-CA-0433.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana Fourth Circuit.

Oct. 11, 1988.

Randolph C. Slone, Slidell, for plaintiff.

James Ryan, III, Peter S. Title, Sessions, Fishman, Rosenson, Boisfontaine, Nathan & Winn, New Orleans, for defendants.

Before BARRY, CIACCIO and WARD, JJ.

BARRY, Judge.

Christopher Coblentz appeals the dismissal of his suit for damages pursuant to a jury verdict. Coblentz was shot in a parking lot and sued the operator of the lot, North Peters Parking, Inc.; the lot's owners, R. Guerico, Sr. and the Guerico trust (the trust of Roy Guerico, Sr., Roy Guerico, Jr., Randy Guerico and Rami Guerico) whose trustee was James Cunningham; their insurer United States Fidelity and Guaranty; and the alleged night-time attendant John Doe. R. Guerico, Sr. and James Cunningham third partied J. Everett Eaves, Inc. based on Eaves' alleged negligence of failing to have their insurance in force. Coblentz dismissed without prejudice R. Guerico & Sons, Inc. and its insurer, Sentry Insurance Company, ¹ defendants in the original petition.

Coblentz's appeal raises five issues: (1) and (2) the defendants had a duty to protect him from criminal activity in the parking lot or to warn him of potential danger from persons attempting to make unauthorized collections in the lot; (3) the defendants failed to warn and correct a known danger which was the cause-in-fact or proximate cause of Coblentz's injury; (4) the defendants failed to guard against known danger(s); (5) he was entitled to damages.

FACTS

On Friday, March 2, 1984 before Mardi Gras, Christopher Coblentz and three friends, Brad Leppo, James Ray and Marvin Lawhorn, had several drinks after work before driving to the French Quarter around 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. Coblentz was a guest passenger in the vehicle. Brad Leppo testified that they were looking for a place to park and drove into the Iberville St. entrance to the parking lot at 200 N. Peters St. As they walked across the lot a black man approached and asked for a $5.00 parking fee. Leppo thought the man was a hustler and the men told him they would pay when they returned.

Leppo testified that Coblentz was walking behind the three men. He said that as they were about to cross the street he turned and saw Coblentz and the black man standing face to face in the parking lot. Leppo said despite the poor lighting he saw the black man shoot Coblentz, then jump in a truck and drive off. The assailant was never found.

Ray and Lawhorn did not testify. Coblentz was shot in the head and could not testify.

Officer Jake Dawson received a call at 9:25 p.m. and arrived at the scene to find Coblentz on the hood of a car bleeding heavily from the head. He testified it was "pretty dark" in the parking lot and the Iberville St. entrance was open.

Donald Ware, who was cleaning a window table in Shananagan's Restaurant across the street, testified Coblentz and a black man were arguing, he saw a flash, and the gunman left in a truck. Ware told his boss about his concern that the victim was Alvin Turner, the day-time attendant of the lot. Ware said that on more than ten occasions he had seen "quite a few people out there" at night collecting money to park. The "attendant" would remove a restraining cable by the driveway and open the lot. He testified that he told Alvin Turner about the activity and also Roy Guerico when he had come to the lot on a Sunday to catch the man. Ware did not remember if Guerico responded before or after the shooting.

Alvin Turner worked for R. Guerico & Sons as a truck driver prior to 1984 and was employed by the company as a truck driver at the time of trial. He opened the lot for Roy Guerico in January, 1984 and was paid with a Guerico company check. The lot was enclosed by a cable running between posts and had two entrances which were closed by placing an additional post in the middle of each driveway. A small sign with the rates was placed on top of a post. Turner said he made a large sign with the rates and put it against the adjacent building. Neither sign specified the lot's hours. Turner said he left work about 5:30 or 6:00 p.m. and Ware corroborated the closing time. When it got dark early he left because he did not want to be there with the day's receipts.

Turner testified that Guerico's warehouse lights were turned off when the produce business closed and there was no light in the lot at the time of the shooting. He stated that when he left in the evening he usually left the Iberville St. entrance open to allow the remaining cars to exit. Ware corroborated that statement. Turner would return to work after 5:00 a.m. to close the Iberville St. entrance and went home for a while and returned to open the lot.

Turner also said the lock on the N. Peters St. entrance was broken once and the cable was down when he arrived for work. Turner used a larger lock and informed Guerico, but he did not call the police. He testified that he knew someone was in the lot at night collecting money and he informed Guerico once or twice about the problem prior to the shooting.

Steven Alley, the Assistant Manager at Victoria Station Restaurant located behind the N. Peters lot, testified that he was working the night of March 2, 1984 and saw Coblentz after the shooting. He said the lot's lighting was poor and two nearby street lights had recently been removed. He did not know the lot had regular hours. He stated the sign with the parking rates did not specify the hours of operation. Prior to the shooting he had seen a person collecting money until about 11:00 p.m about five times. Alley said the day-time attendant (Turner) did not wear a uniform nor did the man he saw at night. Alley assumed the lot's owner hired someone to work at night during Mardi Gras. He said a customer had complained a few nights before the shooting about having to pay for parking.

Roy Guerico, Jr., President of R. Guerico and Sons, Inc. and Vice President of North Peters Parking, Inc., testified that he was not aware that someone had been illegally collecting for night parking until two months after the shooting when his sister-in-law called him. Guerico said he immediately went to the lot but no one was there. The next day Turner informed him about the night-time collections. Guerico claims that was the only time Turner mentioned the problem. Guerico testified that the only criminal activity he knew about (for two years prior to the shooting) involved his produce business. He said there were no assaults or rapes in the parking lot and operating procedures for the lot were not changed after the shooting.

Raymond Pendleton, a security expert, testified that crime in that area of the lot was higher at night and during Mardi Gras. Pendleton noted that from February 12, 1982 to March 2, 1984 there were 26 calls to the police relating to the entire 200 block of N. Peters St., including eighteen responses at night. He said the parking lot's lighting was poor and the security inadequate. Pendleton stated the parking lot should have been secured when it was not open in order to prevent people from entering,...