Opinion

Johnson v. Morehouse General Hospital

  • 63 So. 3d 87
  • 2011 La. LEXIS 1117
  • 2011 WL 1759932
Court
Supreme Court of Louisiana
Filed
May 10, 2011
Status
Published
Author
Guidry
On the bench
Ciaccio, Guidry, Johnson, Knoll, Reasons, Victory
Cited by
47 cases
Authority
More cited than 17.8%

The opinion

GUIDRY, Justice,

dissents with reasons.

hi respectfully dissent from the majority opinion. Under the manifest error standard of review, the appellate court is not to substitute its opinion for that of the jury. Where there are two permissible views of the evidence, the factfinder’s choice between them cannot be manifestly erroneous. S.J. v. Lafayette Parish School Bd., 09-2195, p. 12 (La.7/6/10), 41 So.3d 1119, 1127 . The credibility determinations of the trier of fact are subject to the strictest deference under the manifest error — clearly wrong standard. Id. at 4, 41 So.3d at 1128 .

In this case, the jury’s findings were based on credibility determinations and supported by permissible views of the evidence. Although Dr. Ziegler’s credibility was at issue, his testimony that he would have delivered the baby on the night of November 3, 1999, if he had been given the relevant test results, was not contradicted. The jury considered all of the evidence presented and decided that More-house had fallen below the applicable standard of care in several respects, that the hospital’s failings caused or contributed to the plaintiffs’ injuries, and that Dr. ^Ziegler’s negligence was not a superced-ing cause of those injuries.

Under the manifest error standard of review, the jury’s determinations in this case are not clearly wrong. Accordingly, the court of appeal decision should be reversed and the jury verdict reinstated.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

A word about cookies

We need a few to keep you signed in and the library working. The rest help us see which pages people use and where they get stuck. They stay off unless you say yes.