Virgil v. American Guarantee and Liability Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 29 May 1987
• Docket Number: No. 87-C-0810,87-C-0810
• Citation: Virgil v. American Guarantee and Liability Ins. Co., 507 So.2d 825 (La. 1987)
• Parties: Larry Joe VIRGIL v. AMERICAN GUARANTEE AND LIABILITY INSURANCE COMPANY, et al.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

Page 825

507 So.2d 825

Larry Joe VIRGIL v.AMERICAN GUARANTEE AND LIABILITY INSURANCE COMPANY, et al.

No. 87-C-0810.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

May 29, 1987.

Edmond R. Eberle, New Orleans, for applicant.

Thomas L. Gaudry, Jr., Windhorst, Pastorek & Gaudry, Harvey, for respondent.

Prior Report: 503 So.2d 45.

PER CURIAM.

Granted.The court of appeal erred in holding that the manifest error standard of appellate review does not apply when the evidence before the trier of fact consists solely of written reports, records and depositions.The court further erred in assessing credibility and weighing medical evidence as if the court of appeal were the trier of fact.

The manifest error standard and its purpose were stated succinctly in Canter v. Koehring Co., 283 So.2d 716(La.1973), as follows:

"When there is evidence before the trier of fact which, upon its reasonable evaluation of credibility, furnishes a reasonable factual basis for the trial court's finding, on review the appellate court should not disturb this factual finding in the absence of manifest error.Stated another way, the reviewing court must give great weight to factual conclusions of the trier of fact; where there is conflict in the testimony, reasonable evaluations of credibility and reasonable inferences of fact should not be disturbed upon review, even though the appellate court may feel that its own evaluations and inferences are as reasonable.The reason for this well-settled principle of review is based not only upon the trial court's better capacity to evaluate live witnesses (as compared with the appellate court's access only to a cold record), but also upon the proper allocation of trial and appellate functions between the respective courts."(emphasis supplied)

Louisiana's...