Garza v. Delta Tau Delta Fraternity Nat.

• Decision Date: 10 July 2006
• Docket Number: No. 2005-CC-1508.,No. 2005-CC-1527.,2005-CC-1508.,2005-CC-1527.
• Citation: 948 So.2d 84
• Parties: Thomas GARZA, Sr., Sandra Garza, and Thomas Garza, Jr. v. DELTA TAU DELTA FRATERNITY NATIONAL, Delta Tau Delta Fraternity Local, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond City Police Department, Officer Edwin Bergeron, Paul Upshaw, and ABC Insurance Company.<SMALL><SUP>1</SUP></SMALL>
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

948 So.2d 84

Thomas GARZA, Sr., Sandra Garza, and Thomas Garza, Jr. v. DELTA TAU DELTA FRATERNITY NATIONAL, Delta Tau Delta Fraternity Local, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond City Police Department, Officer Edwin Bergeron, Paul Upshaw, and ABC Insurance Company.¹

No. 2005-CC-1508.

No. 2005-CC-1527.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

July 10, 2006.

Charles C. Fonti, Jr., Attorney General, Karen L. Godwin, Assistant Attorney General, for applicant in No. 20005-CC-1508.

Roedel, Parsons, Koch, Blache, Balhoff & McCollister, Carlton Jones, III, Judith R.E. Atkinson, Thomas E. Balhoff, Baton Rouge; Rosas Law Firm, Gregg A. Rozas, George F. Kelly, III, Christopher M. Moody, Hammond, for respondent in No. 205-CC-1508.

Roedel, Parsons, Koch, Blache, Balhoff & McCollister, Carlton Jones, III, Judith R.E. Atkinson, Thomas E. Balhoff, Baton Rouge, for applicant in No. 2005-CC-1527.

Charles C. Foti, Jr., Attorney General, Karen L. Godwin, Assistant Attorney General; Rozas Law Firm, Gregg A. Rozas, George F. Kelly, III, Christopher M. Moody, Hammond, for respondent in No. 2005-CC-1527.

WEIMER, Justice.

Certiorari was granted² in this matter to determine whether the lower courts erred in ruling on motions in limine that a suicide note would be admissible at trial as an exception to the hearsay rule. In light of the facts of this case and for the reasons assigned, we hold that the suicide note in question does not qualify as a "[s]tatement under belief of impending death" pursuant to LSA-C.E. art. 804(B)(2), or, as plaintiffs argue alternatively, as an exception to the hearsay rule pursuant to LSA-C.E. art. 803(3) for the purpose of proving the "[t]hen existing mental, emotional, or physical condition" of the decedent.³

Accordingly, we reverse the holdings of the lower courts finding the suicide note admissible into evidence as a statement under belief of impending death, we vacate the judgment on the motions in limine, and remand this matter to the district court.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

This matter arises from a tragic death by suicide. Thomas Garza, Sr., and Sandra Garza, along with their son, Thomas Garza, Jr., the parents and brother of the decedent, filed suit against various defendants for the wrongful death⁴ of Courtney Garza, on April 9, 2001. On that date, Courtney, a 21-year-old college student at Southeastern Louisiana University (SLU) in Hammond, Louisiana, took her own life by hanging at her parents' home in Baton Rouge. Prior to the suicide, Courtney authored a handwritten letter.

In their original petition, plaintiffs sued Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity, Epsilon Phi Chapter (DTD Local); Delta Tau Delta, National (DTD National), the fraternal organization headquartered in Carmel, Indiana; Paul Upshaw; and the State of Louisiana, through the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System and Southeastern Louisiana University.⁵ Petitioners aver that Courtney's death was "proximately caused by the concomitant negligence of the defendants," which they particularize as: sexual assault and rape of the decedent; continuous and ongoing harassment of the decedent; failure to properly supervise activities of fraternal organizations on the SLU campus; and failure to prevent the tortious activities described in the petition.

The defendants answered the petition, denying the allegations.

Motions in limine were filed by Upshaw, DTD Local, DTD National, and SLU challenging the plaintiffs' right to admit into evidence a suicide note left by Courtney some time before her death by hanging. The note is handwritten on letter-sized, lined paper—three pages, front and back, plus seven lines. It can be broken down into three parts. 1) At the beginning of the note Courtney states she had been thinking about suicide for months, having been constantly depressed; she also talks about seeking counseling and deciding not to seek further counseling. 2) Then, Courtney writes, "I guess I'll begin & explain what happened to me this semester." She relates her account of drinking at a local lounge until closing time, 2:00 a.m. According to the note, she and a sorority sister accepted a ride with a DTD member, and they willingly went to an off-campus house occupied by several fraternity members, where Courtney ended up in the bedroom of Paul Upshaw. She writes, "I was raped." This portion of the note ends with "[a]ll I wanted was to forget about what happened & all it brought me was debt." 3) The final portion of the note consists of goodbyes to family, instructions for getting in touch with friends, and instructions for her funeral.

In a judgment signed on June 15, 2004, the motions were denied in part as to the suicide note up to and including the word "debt" on page three. Thus, the portion of the note preceding the word "debt" was deemed admissible hearsay pursuant to La. C.E. art. 804(B)(2). The motions in limine were granted as to the remainder of the suicide note and pursuant to La. C.E. art. 403⁶ deemed inadmissible. Although the parties argued admissibility of the note pursuant to La. C.E. art. 803(3), this article was not addressed by the trial court.

DTD Local and DTD National filed an application for writ to the Court of Appeal, First Circuit; SLU filed a separate writ application. By a two-to-one decision, the court of appeal denied the writs. See Garza v. Delta Tau Delta Fraternity National, 04-1484 (La.App. 1 Cir. 5/6/05), 916 So.2d 185.⁷ The majority considered the dying declaration exception to the hearsay rule found in La. C.E. art. 804(B)(2). Rejecting the defendants' reliance on the fact that there was no evidence that Courtney was injured at the time the note was written, the majority found Article 804(B)(2) provided no requirement that there be a wound or injury inflicted prior to the making of a dying declaration. According to the opinion, there was nothing in that statutory provision to prohibit a suicide note from being admitted as a dying declaration. The court found Courtney's written words expressly indicated an awareness of her impending death. The opinion finds the "greatest evidence" that the statement was written with a belief that death was imminent was the fact that Courtney took her own life soon after writing the note. The note was dated April 8, 2001, at 12:30, and Courtney died April 9, 2001.⁸

As to the requirement that a dying declaration relate to the cause or circumstances of the declarant's death, the majority found the handwritten note "offers insight into the circumstances leading to the suicide that shortly followed." Garza, 04-1484 at 6-7, 916 So.2d at 189. The court of appeal indicated that in the note Courtney wrote that she would "explain what happened to me this semester . . . . I hope you can read this. It explains it all for you."⁹ Id., 04-1484 at 7, 916 So.2d at 189.

In his dissent, Judge McDonald noted that the "`classic' dying declaration is made by a person near death from fatal wounds or illness, who makes a statement to a third party about who inflicted the wounds or caused the illness." Id., 04-1484 at 1, 916 So.2d at 190. He noted that "such a statement is spontaneously made by one who is unexpectedly facing imminent, certain death. In contrast, a suicide note is a deliberate communication composed in advance of the act itself. The writer intends for the note to be found and read. Therefore, the writer may carefully and methodically select the words used." Id. Specifically, the "author has the opportunity [to] tell some things and omit others, to accuse or exonerate, to clarify or confound, or even [to] seek revenge against someone who is blameless." Id. Judge McDonald concluded the suicide note in this case is not admissible as a dying declaration.

The sole issue presented for our determination is whether the suicide note in question is admissible in evidence as an exception to the hearsay rule as codified in the Louisiana Code of Evidence enacted in 1988.

DISCUSSION

The task of determining the intent of the legislature begins with the words of the applicable statute or statutes, as words are the means used by the legislature to express its intent. State v. Mayeux, 01-3195, p. 4 (La.6/21/02), 820 So.2d 526, 529. However, the exceptions to the hearsay rule provided in the Louisiana Code of Evidence are, to a large extent, a systematization and codification of hearsay exceptions previously recognized in Louisiana. GEORGE W. PUGH ET AL., HANDBOOK ON LOUISIANA EVIDENCE LAW 2006 (hereafter "HANDBOOK 2006"), La. C.E. art. 804(B), 2006 Authors' Notes (2) at 606. Although we are confined by the statutory language, interpretation of the articles of the Code of Evidence would be superficial if performed in a vacuum rather than in the context of history and jurisprudence where the words are susceptible to different meanings. The 2006 Authors' Notes (4) to La. C.E. art. 804(B)(2) at 612 specifically refer the reader to "a collection and analysis of prior Louisiana cases dealing with dying declarations" contained in Timothy J. McNamara, Comment, Dying Declarations in Louisiana Law, 22 La.L.Rev. 651 (1962).

Further, Chapter 8 of the Code of Evidence is entitled "Hearsay" and consists of Articles 801 through 806, which are modeled on Federal Rules of Evidence with the same numbers, (HANDBOOK 2006 at 533), adding common law history and federal jurisprudence to the instructive arsenal available for our use in interpretation of the Louisiana Code of Evidence.¹⁰ See Independent Fire Insurance Company v. Sunbeam Corporation, 99-2181, p. 14 (La.2/29/00), 755 So.2d 226, 234, quoting State v. Foret, 628 So.2d 1116 (La.1993) (It is appropriate for Louisiana courts to utilize the federal authorities in interpreting the Louisiana Code of Evidence.).

Dying declaration:

According to the "Introductory Note" included within the Louisiana Evidence Code enacted by 1988 La. Acts, No. 515, the scope of the state provisions is narrower than that of their...