Opinion

Joyner v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Company

  • 259 La. 660
  • 251 So. 2d 166
  • 1971 La. LEXIS 4301
Court
Supreme Court of Louisiana
Filed
Jun 28, 1971
Status
Published
Author
Hamlin
On the bench
Tate, Hamlin, Dixon
Cited by
29 cases

The opinion

HAMLIN, Justice

(concurring).

I note that in Footnote No. 3 of the majority opinion, it is stated: “Unfortunately, Moorehead’s employees, upon removing the broken fulcrum, had sent it to the city dump on the day of or the day after the accident. Therefore, this fulcrum could not be located when searched for three weeks after the accident.” This statement in the Footnote, in my view, is very important in resolving the issues in this case.

Moorehead’s employees were the Company’s agents; Moorehead, through its employees, disposed of this vital evidence. It is my further view that Moorehead should have been more attentive to this accident. It leaps to the mind that this was *677 crucial evidence upon which it could have built a defense in this case. Failing to preserve this evidence, it must bear the result of its own inattentiveness, negligence, laches, call it what one will. Therefore, resort to secondary evidence, photographs, became necessary.

Under the circumstances, I respectfully concur.

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.