Rao v. Rao

• Decision Date: 04 November 2005
• Docket Number: No. 2005 CA 0059.,2005 CA 0059.
• Citation: 927 So.2d 356
• Parties: Mamta Pani RAO v. Maheswar RAO.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

Page 356

927 So.2d 356

Mamta Pani RAO v. Maheswar RAO.

No. 2005 CA 0059.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

November 4, 2005.

Writ Denied March 24, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Richard Ducote, Jeannine A. Provencher, New Orleans, Counsel for Plaintiff/Appellant Mamta Pani Rao.

Jack M. Dampf, Helen Edgington, Baton Rouge, Counsel for Defendant/Appellee Maheswar Rao.

Before: CARTER, C.J., DOWNING, and GAIDRY, JJ.

GAIDRY, J.

The plaintiff-appellant, Mamta Pani Rao, appeals judgments relating to the valuation and partition of property of the former community of acquets and gains existing between her and the defendant-appellee, Maheswar Rao. For the reasons stated below, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The parties to this appeal, Maheswar Rao, M.D. (Dr. Rao) and Mamta Pani Rao (Mrs. Rao), entered into a traditional arranged marriage on July 12, 1990, in Bhuvaneswar, India. They subsequently established a matrimonial domicile in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Dr. Rao is a gastroenterologist and became a member of his medical group, Gastroenterology Associates, L.L.C., on January 31, 2001. On the same date, he also became a member of another limited liability company, Gastro/Endo Land Company, L.L.C., which owned and managed the medical office property. Similarly, on January 31, 2001, he acquired an ownership interest in Louisiana Endoscopy Center, Inc., a corporation operating an outpatient surgical center in the same building as the physicians' offices. The six physician members of the medical group owned equal interests in each of the legal entities. Thus, Dr. Rao held a one-sixth ownership interest in the corporation, Louisiana Endoscopy Center, Inc. The valuation of that corporate ownership interest is the only aspect of the judicial partition of the community property at issue in this appeal.

In connection with Dr. Rao's acquisition of a one-sixth stock interest in Louisiana Endoscopy Center, Inc., he and Mrs. Rao executed a written acknowledgment on January 31, 2001, that they had read and agreed to the provisions of the corporation's Stockholder Agreement and Articles of Incorporation.¹ On September 27, 2001, the six physician stockholders executed an Amended and Restated Stockholders Agreement of Louisiana Endoscopy Center, Inc. (the Amended Stockholders Agreement), which made certain changes to the original Stockholders Agreement. The most significant changes were provisions establishing a stipulated value of $25,000.00 for the stock of each equal stockholder in the event of resignation, death, or termination as a stockholder, or in the event of divorce.

Although Mrs. Rao admittedly signed a multiple original of a spouses' signature sheet for the Amended Stockholders Agreement, the relevant circumstances pertaining to her signature on the document are disputed. Dr. Rao testified that the entire agreement and related documents were provided for her review and signature, while Mrs. Rao testified she was presented with only the spouses' signature sheet. The signatures of the six physician stockholders were all placed on page 18 of the agreement, while each of the six spouses' signatures was executed on a separate multiple original of page 19, the spouses' signature sheet.

Mrs. Rao filed a petition for divorce on November 13, 2001, alleging that she was the victim of verbal and physical abuse by Dr. Rao, and specifically invoked the provisions of the Post-Separation Family Violence Relief Act, La. R.S. 9:361, et seq. She also alleged entitlement to interim and final spousal support and custody of the parties' two children. A judgment of divorce was rendered on July 18, 2002.

The trial court heard Mrs. Rao's request for final spousal support on July 18, 2002, and at the conclusion of the hearing took the matter under advisement. On September 13, 2002, the trial court issued written reasons for judgment on the issue of final spousal support. After describing Mrs. Rao's testimony regarding "several incidents of abuse" occurring over a number of years, the trial court expressed its belief in "Mrs. Rao's testimony regarding the verbal and physical assaults by her husband." Based upon that credibility determination and others, the trial court found Mrs. Rao free from fault in the divorce.

On May 8, 2002, Dr. Rao filed a petition requesting a judicial partition of the community of acquets and gains pursuant to La. R.S. 9:2801. The parties submitted detailed descriptive lists setting forth their respective positions on the community assets, liabilities, and reimbursement claims. The trial of the judicial partition was conducted on August 8, 2003 and December 17, 2003. On February 3, 2004, the trial court issued detailed written reasons for judgment, ruling that the Amended Stockholders Agreement was binding between the parties on the issue of the stipulated stock value of Louisiana Endoscopy Center, Inc. The trial court's judgment in that regard was signed on March 2, 2004.

Dr. Rao filed a motion for new trial on the grounds that the judgment erroneously fixed legal interest on the sum owed to Mrs. Rao from date of judicial demand, rather than date of judgment. On March 15, 2004, Mrs. Rao filed a motion for new trial on the issue of the valuation of Louisiana Endoscopy Center, Inc. Dr. Rao's motion was heard on March 30, 2004, and Mrs. Rao's motion was heard on May 17, 2004. The trial court's judgment granting Dr. Rao's motion for new trial and denying Mrs. Rao's motion for new trial was signed on May 27, 2004. This appeal followed.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

We summarize Mrs. Rao's assignments of error as follows:

1. The trial court erred in denying her motion for new trial on the judgment of partition of the community property, as that judgment was clearly contrary to the law and the evidence;

2. The trial court erred in determining that Dr. Rao's testimony relating to the Amended Stockholders Agreement was credible, in light of its earlier adverse credibility determination on the issue of fault for final spousal support; and

3. The trial court erred in denying her motion for new trial, by failing to consider the issues relating to the Amended Stockholders Agreement in light of the history and dynamics of domestic violence shown at the trial of the issue of final spousal support.

DISCUSSION

The Nature of the Judgments Appealed

The courts of appeal will review only issues which were submitted to the trial court and which are contained in specifications of assignments or error, unless the interest of justice clearly requires otherwise. Uniform Rules of the Courts of Appeal of Louisiana, Rule 1-3. Based upon the substance of Mrs. Rao's assignments of error, it might be concluded that Mrs. Rao has not properly raised an issue as to the merits of the trial court's valuation of the ownership interest in Louisiana Endoscopy Center, Inc. But as other language in her brief and her motion for appeal clearly expresses her intent to appeal the merits of the judgment of March 2, 2004, we conclude the issue is properly before us.²

The long-established rule in this circuit is that the denial of a motion for new trial is not an appealable judgment absent a showing of irreparable injury. Shultz v. Shultz, 02-2534, p. 3 (La.App. 1st Cir.11/7/03), 867 So.2d 745, 746. However, when an unrestricted appeal is taken from a final judgment, the appellant is entitled to seek review of all adverse interlocutory rulings prejudicial to him, in addition to the review of the final judgment. Landry v. Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center, 02-1559, p. 5 n. 4 (La.App. 1st Cir.5/14/03), 858 So.2d 454, 461 n. 4, writs denied, 03-1748, 03-1752 (La.10/17/03), 855 So.2d 761. Thus, the interlocutory denial of a motion for new trial is subject to review on appeal in connection with the review of an appealable judgment in the same case. Moran v. G & G Construction, 03-2447, p. 11 n. 4 (La.App. 1st Cir.10/29/04), 897 So.2d 75, 83 n. 4, writ denied, 04-2901 (La.2/25/05), 894 So.2d 1148.

Standard of Review

An appellate court's review of facts (such as the classification of spouses' property as community or separate) is governed by the manifest error-clearly wrong standard. See Mart v. Hill, 505 So.2d 1120, 1127 (La.1987) and Biondo v. Biondo, 99-0890, p. 4 (La.App. 1st Cir.7/31/00), 769 So.2d 94, 99. However, it is well settled that a trial court has broad discretion in adjudicating issues raised in a judicial partition proceeding under La. R.S. 9:2801. Smith v. Smith, 95-0913, p. 10 (La.App. 1st Cir.12/20/96), 685 So.2d 649, 655. If the trial court's valuations of community assets are reasonably supported by the record and do not constitute an abuse of discretion, its determinations should be affirmed. Ellington v. Ellington, 36,943, p. 6 (La.App. 2nd Cir.3/18/03), 842 So.2d 1160, 1166, writ denied, 03-1092 (La.6/27/03), 847 So.2d 1269.

The standard of review of a denial of a motion for new trial, whether on peremptory or discretionary grounds, is that of abuse of discretion. Magee v. Pittman, 98-1164, p. 19 (La.App. 1st Cir.5/12/00), 761 So.2d 731, 746, writ denied, 00-1684 (La.9/22/00), 768 So.2d 602.

Assessment of Credibility

In this appeal, Mrs. Rao utilizes the trial court's prior credibility determination on one aspect of an unrelated issue, fault for purposes of final spousal support, as the foundation and centerpiece of her contentions that the Amended Stockholders Agreement was the product of a fraudulent scheme and an absolute simulation. She further contends that her consent to that agreement was vitiated by a pattern of domestic violence committed by Dr. Rao, which formed the basis of the prior credibility determination. However, later rulings of the trial court demonstrate that the trial court did not in fact make any factual finding on the issues of "domestic abuse" under La. R.S. 46:2131, et seq., or "family violence" or "domestic violence" under La. R.S. 9:361, et seq.

We initially address Mrs. Rao's second...