Kinchen v. Southern Tire Mart, Inc.

• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: PER CURIAM
• Citation: Kinchen v. Southern Tire Mart, Inc., 668 So.2d 717 (La. 1996)
• Decision Date: 16 February 1996
• Parties: 95-2979 La

Page 717

668 So.2d 717

95-2979 La. 2/16/96

Gerald KINCHEN v. SOUTHERN TIRE MART, INC. et al.

No. 95-C-2979.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

Feb. 16, 1996.

In re Southern Tire Mart, Inc.; Nationwide Insurance Co..; --Defendant(s); applying for writ of certiorari and/or review; Office of Workers' Compensation, Dist. 5, No. 91-08821; to the Court of Appeal, First Circuit, No. CA95 0618.

Prior report: La.App., 666 So.2d 1353.

PER CURIAM.

The application is granted.

The court of appeal erred in applying the manifest error standard after determining that the trial court had made a legal error in applying an inapplicable presumption. Once the court of appeal found legal error which went to the heart of the factfinding process, the court should have proceeded to decide the appeal on the record without any deference to the decision of the trial court.

Accordingly, the judgment of the...