Grezaffi v. Carroll
| Decision Date | 06 April 2023 |
| Docket Number | 2022 CA 0229 |
| Parties | LUKE J. GREZAFFI v. PAUL BRYAN CARROLL AND MIKKI GREMILLION CARROLL |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION
On Appeal from the 18th Judicial District Court In and for the Parish of Pointe Coupee State of Louisiana Trial Court No 49886 Honorable Elizabeth A. Engolio, Judge Presiding
William C. Shockey Alex T. Griffin Baton Rouge, LA Attorneys for Plaintiff-Appellee, Luke J. Grezaffi
James C. Dewey New Roads, LA Attorney for Defendant-Appellant, Paul Bryan Carroll
Cy J D'Aquila, Jr. James C. Dewey New Roads, LA Attorneys for Defendant-Appellant, Mikki Gremillion Carroll
Dannie P. Garrett, III Baton Rouge, LA Counsel for Amicus Curiae Pointe Coupee Parish Government
BEFORE: THERIOT, CHUTZ, AND HESTER, JJ.
This matter is before us on appeal by defendants, Paul Bryan Carroll and Mikki Gremillion Carroll, from judgments of the trial court, permanently enjoining defendants from interfering with Luke J. Grezaffi's passage on Lee Lane in Pointe Coupee Parish, State of Louisiana, awarding damages and attorney's fees to Mr. Grezaffi, and assessing costs of court, including expert witness fees, to defendants. For the reasons that follow, we reverse the trial court's judgment overruling Mr. Carroll's exception raising the objection of nonjoinder, set aside the judgments awarding the relief delineated above, and remand the matter to the trial court.
In 1990, Mr. Carroll and his former wife, Mikki Carroll acquired a tract of farmland (approximately 246 acres) near Batchelor, Louisiana in Pointe Coupee Parish. The current Carroll Tract was part of a larger tract previously owned by R.E. Lee, which was subdivided into Lot 2 and Lots 1-A and 1-B, which were later resubdivided into Lots 1-A-1 and 1-B-1 [1] A portion of the Carroll Tract is bordered by Black Bayou. The Carroll Tract is also bordered on two edges by a smaller tract of land, which is known as the Smiley Tract. The Carroll Tract and the Smiley Tract can be accessed from Louisiana Highway 419 through Lee Lane, which follows the property line of Lot 2 and makes a sharp right (westerly) turn in the direction of Black Bayou, successively abutting the property lines of Lots 2, 1-B-1, 1-A-1 (the Carroll Tract), and the Smiley Tract. Central to the dispute herein is whether Lee Lane is a public road all the way through the Carroll Tract and the Smiley Tract or whether the public road ended at the property line (Black Bayou) of the Carroll Tract, which was just past the Joey Kent/Bobby Lee (Kent-Lee) house on the neighboring tract. [2]
Figure 1: (Image Omitted)
Mr. Carroll farmed the Smiley Tract for 30 years. Mr. Carroll would sometimes haul crops out from the Smiley Tract using Lee Lane, but "[m]ost of the time [he'd] go back out to 419 on [his] improved turnrow," as Mr. Carroll has access to the Carroll tract, his home, and his farming headquarters directly from Highway 419. At some point during the period of time he farmed the property, Mr. Carroll replaced a culvert on the Smiley Tract where Lee Lane crosses Sandy Bayou at his expense. [3]
In June of 2019, the Smiley Tract was sold at a sheriffs sale. At the time of the sale, Mr. Grezaffi owned approximately a sixteen percent (16%) interest in the Smiley Tract and Mr. Carroll owned approximately a six percent (6%) interest in the Smiley Tract. While Mr. Carroll was present at the sheriffs sale and bid on the property, he was outbid by Mr. Grezaffi. When Mr. Grezzafi became the full owner of the Smiley Tract, Mr. Carroll already had a soybean crop on the property, which he was allowed to harvest. Mr. Carroll and Mr. Grezzaffi had multiple conversations concerning federal money, back rent, and Mr. Carroll's continued lease of the Smiley Tract. However, Mr. Grezaffi ultimately decided not to lease the property to Mr. Carroll, thereby ending Mr. Carroll's farming operations on the property. Subsequently, on or about April 1, 2020, Mr. Carroll installed chains and a "Posted" sign on Lee Lane at the point where the road enters his property and removed the culvert he previously installed at Sandy Bayou.
After Mr. Grezaffi encountered the chains and "Posted" sign and saw that the culvert at Sandy Bayou had been removed, he approached Mr. Carroll. Mr. Grezaffi stated that Mr. Carroll informed him that he decided to block Mr. Grezaffi from the Smiley Tract after not being permitted to lease it and that Mr. Carroll moved the culvert at Sandy Bayou to his own property because he was the one who installed it. Subsequently, Mr. Grezaffi and his attorney called Mr. Carroll a number of times to see about working out an agreeable solution, but Mr. Carroll neither answered nor returned their calls.
Ultimately, Mr. Grezaffi filed the instant lawsuit against the Carrolls on July 31, 2020, seeking preliminary and permanent injunctive relief ordering the Carrolls to open Lee Lane, remove all obstructions therefrom at their expense, and not to interfere with Mr. Grezaffi's use of and passage on Lee Lane. Alternatively, Mr. Grezaffi prayed for the establishment of a predial servitude of passage along Lee Lane across the Carroll Tract for the benefit of the farmland portion of the Smiley Tract. [4]
While not named as a party, the Pointe Coupee Parish Government ("the Parish") filed an amicus curiae brief with the trial court on August 11, 2020. In its brief, the Parish noted that the demands made in the petition were limited to injunctive relief relative to the blocked passage of the disputed portion of Lee Lane and the claim for a predial servitude of passage, on which the Parish acknowledged it had no interest or position. Notwithstanding, the Parish acknowledged that the claims and assertions made in the petition were "replete with explicit and implied allegations of fact and law ... essentially asserting that the disputed portion of Lee Lane is a public road in the Parish road system." The Parish further observed that "despite no such language in the prayer of the Petition, the Plaintiffs could urge the Court to find the disputed portion of Lee Lane to be a public road." [5] Finally, the Parish asserted that it is a necessary party under La. Code Civ. P. art. 641, [6] and should the "trial court grant the implicit demand ... that the disputed portion of Lee Lane is a Parish public road" without the Parish being added as a party, that ruling would be subject to nullity.
A hearing on the preliminary injunction was held on August 12, 2020, during which testimony was heard and evidence submitted. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court permitted post-hearing memorandums to be submitted and took the matter under advisement. On August 18, 2020, the trial court signed a judgment issuing a preliminary injunction in favor of Mr. Grezaffi and against the Carrolls, ordering the Carrolls to remove the obstruction from the road known as Lee Lane at their expense and to refrain from interfering with Mr. Grezaffi's right of passage on Lee Lane to the Smiley Tract.
Thereafter, Mr. Grezaffi filed an amended petition, adding additional paragraphs to assert claims under the Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices Act, La. R.S. 51:1404, et seq. ("LUTPA") and to request damages, legal interest, attorney's fees, and costs. In response, Mr. Carroll filed a peremptory exception raising the objection of nonjoinder of a party under La. Code Civ. P. art. 641(2)(a), maintaining that the Parish was an interested party in the lawsuit. The trial court overruled the exception in a judgment dated February 11, 2021.
A bench trial was held on May 17 and 18, 2021. At the conclusion of the second day, the trial court invited the parties to submit their closing arguments in the form of post-trial memorandums, keeping the matter pending until the trial court reached a decision. After memorandums were submitted by all parties, [7] the trial court issued an October 13, 2021 "Judgment Granting Permanent Injunction" in which it explicitly found that Lee Lane was a public road, finding that the Parish maintained the road for over three years and noting that "Lee Lane has been designated as a public road on plats in 1939, 1944, [and] 1963 and recorded in the public record." The trial court further permanently enjoined the Carrolls from interfering with Mr. Grezaffi's passage on Lee Lane, awarded damages and attorney's fees to Mr. Grezaffi, and assessed the Carrolls with costs of court, including expert witness fees.
Mr. Grezaffi filed a partial motion for new trial, seeking to have judicial interest included with the award of damages, and filed a motion to tax costs. On December 17, 2021, the trial court held a hearing on the partial motion for new trial and the motion to tax costs. [8] The trial court orally issued its rulings and, together with counsel, drafted a judgment granting the partial motion for new trial, but limiting it to argument only, and amending the October 13, 2021 judgment to provide for judicial interest and to expressly state that the costs of court were taxed and set forth in a separate judgment. This judgment was signed on December 17, 2021 and the judgment taxing costs was signed on January 3, 2022.
The Carrolls both appealed, assigning the following errors:
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