FOR IMMEDIATE NEWS RELEASE

NEWS RELEASE # 016

FROM: CLERK OF SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA

The opinions handed down on the 4th day of March, 1998 , are as follows:

BY CALOGERO, C.J. :

97-C - 1225 OLIDA CHAISSON v. CAJUN BAG AND INSURANCE COMPANY OF NORTH AMERICA (Office of Workers' Compensation District # 4)

For the reasons given above, we affirm the judgment of the court of appeal.

AFFIRMED.

TRAYLOR, J. - not on panel. Rule IV, Part 2, §3.

JOHNSON, J. - concurs and assigns reasons.

VICTORY, J. - concurs.

KNOLL, J. - concurs in part and dissents in part, for the assigned reasons .

BY MARCUS, J. :

97-C - 1344 MAURIO BROWN v. LOUISIANA INDEMNITY COMPANY, ET AL (Parish of Allen)

For the reasons assigned, the judgment of the court of appeal is affirmed in part and reversed in part. All costs are assessed equally between the parties.

KNOLL, J. - not on panel. Rule IV, Part 2, §3.

JOHNSON, J. - concurs.

VICTORY, J. - dissents in part and assigns reasons.

97-C - 1914 C/W 97-C - 1937   DAVID L. CARRIERE, CORONER v. ST. LANDRY PARISH POLICE JURY, ET AL (Parish of St. Landry)

For the reasons assigned, the judgment of the court of appeal is affirmed in part, and reversed in part. All costs are assessed against the Police Jury.

VICTORY, J. - not on panel. Rule IV, Part 2, §3.

BY LEMMON, J. :

96-C - 1932 TAMMIE JO BOYKIN, ET AL v. LOUISIANA TRANSIT COMPANY, INC., ET AL (Parish of Jefferson)

For these reasons, the judgments of the lower courts are reversed, and the action is dismissed.

VICTORY, J. - not on panel. Rule IV, Part 2, §3.

JOHNSON, J. - dissents and assigns reasons.

TRAYLOR, J. - concurs for reasons assigned by Justice Knoll.

KNOLL, J. - concurs with reasons.

BY KIMBALL, J. :

97-KA- 0177 STATE OF LOUISIANA v. ALLEN ROBERTSON, JR. (Parish of East Baton Rouge)

For the reasons assigned, defendant's conviction and sentence are affirmed for all purposes, except that this judgment shall not serve as condition precedent to execution, as provided by La.R.S. 15:567 until (a) defendant fails to petition the United States Supreme Court timely for certiorari; (b) that Court denies his petition for certiorari; (c) having filed for and been denied certiorari, defendant fails to petition the United States Supreme Court timely, under their prevailing rules, for rehearing of denial of certiorari; or (d) that Court denies his application for rehearing.

JOHNSON, J. - not on panel. Rule IV, Part 2, §3.

97-K - 0778 STATE OF LOUISIANA v. DESMOND G. HARRIS (Parish of Orleans)

For the reasons set forth above, the judgment of the court of appeal is reverse and the judgment and sentence of the trial court are reinstated.

REVERSED. TRIAL COURT JUDGMENT AND SENTENCE REINSTATED.

CALOGERO, C.J. - not on panel. Rule IV, Part 2, §3.

LEMMON, J. - dissents and will assign reasons.

JOHNSON, J. - dissents and will assign reasons.

BY JOHNSON, J. :

97-CA- 2206 CAPITAL UTILITIES CORPORATION v. LOUISIANA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION (Parish of East Baton Rouge)

For the foregoing reasons, Capital has failed to meet its jurisprudential burden of proof. Accordingly, the decision rendered by the trial court is affirmed. AFFIRMED AND RENDERED.

CALOGERO, C.J. - not on panel. Rule IV, Part 2, §3.

BY VICTORY, J. :

96-KA- 2922 STATE OF LOUISIANA v. ROBERT MUSCHKAT (Parish of Caddo)

For the reasons stated herein, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

AFFIRMED.

KNOLL, J. - not on panel. Rule IV, Part 2, §3.

96-K - 3041 STATE OF LOUISIANA v. DONALD JOHNSON (Parish of Orleans)

For the reasons stated above, the part of the Fourth Circuit's judgment which vacates Donald Johnson's sentence and remands it to the trial court for resentencing is vacated. The statutory minimum sentence of twenty-six years and eight months imposed by the trial court is reinstated.

VACATED IN PART; AFFIRMED IN PART; SENTENCE REINSTATED.

CALOGERO, C.J. - not on panel. Rule IV, Part 2, §3.

JOHNSON, J. - dissents and assigns reasons.

97-C - 1784 DIANNE BEARD v. SUMMIT INSTITUTE OF PULMONARY MEDICINE AND REHABILITATION, INC. (Parish of Bossier)

For the reasons stated herein, the judgment of the court of appeal is reversed and the trial court's judgment is reinstated, except that we raise the attorney's fee award to $5,000.00. All costs are assessed to defendant. REVERSED AND RENDERED.

MARCUS, J. - not on panel. Rule IV, Part 2, §3.

TRAYLOR, J. - dissents for reasons assigned by Justice Knoll.

KNOLL, J. - dissents and assigns reasons.

97-KK- 1906 STATE OF LOUISIANA v. WALTER JOHNSON (Parish of Orleans )

Sentence of the trial court is vacated and set aside. Case remanded to trial court with instructions to obtain the defendant's presence in court and sentence him for a determinate term of incarceration of no less than the minimum required under the Habitual Offender Law, with credit for the time defendant has already served for this conviction.

SENTENCE VACATED. REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.

CALOGERO, C.J. - not on panel. Rule IV, Part 2, §3.

LEMMON, J. - concurs and will assign reasons.

JOHNSON, J. - dissents and assigns reasons.

BY TRAYLOR, J. :

97-C - 1174 JUNE REED v. WAL-MART STORES, INC. AND ABC INS. CO. (Parish of Avoyelles)

For the foregoing reasons, we find that the lower courts were clearly wrong in holding that the expansion joint at issue presented an unreasonable risk of harm. Therefore, the judgments of the lower courts are reversed.

REVERSED.

VICTORY, J. - not on panel. Rule IV, Part 2, §3.

CALOGERO, C.J. - concurs for reasons assigned by Kimball, J.

LEMMON, J. - concurs and will assign reasons.

KIMBALL, J. - concurs and assigns reasons.

97-KK- 2593 STATE OF LOUISIANA v. ULYSSES JONES (Parish of Jefferson)

For the foregoing reasons, the ruling of the trial court removing DiGiulio as defendant's counsel is reversed. REVERSED.

LEMMON, J. - not on panel. Rule IV, Part 2, §3.

BY KNOLL, J. :

97-CC- 1718 IN RE: HOWARD MARSHALL CHARITABLE REMAINDER ANNUITY TRUST (Parish of Calcasieu)

For the foregoing reasons, we find that Mr. Marshall owned no property, movable or immovable, which was situated in Calcasieu Parish. Accordingly, we hold that the Louisiana Succession was improperly opened in a court which lacked jurisdiction under La. Code Civ.P. art. 2811. The judgment of the district court, overruling the exception of lack of jurisdiction is reversed, and set aside, and this case is remanded to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

REVERSED AND REMANDED.

JOHNSON, J. - not on panel. Rule IV, Part 2, §3.

LEMMON, J. - concurs and assigns reasons . [Ed. Note: posted March 24,1998]