Opinion
NO. 2016 CW 0886
10-07-2016
STATE OF LOUISIANA, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND DEVELOPMENT v. MILDRED DIPUMA POWELL, ET AL. Consolidated with STATE OF LOUISIANA, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND DEVELOPMENT v. WILLIAM P. DRAGO, III, ET UX
In Re: State of Louisiana, Department of Transportation and Development, applying for supervisory writs, 19th Judicial District Court, Parish of East Baton Rouge, No. 528589 c/w 528590. BEFORE: HIGGINBOTHAM, THERIOT AND CHUTZ, JJ.
WRIT DENIED.
TMH
WRC
Theriot, J., dissents and would grant the writ. In an expropriation proceeding filed under La. R.S. 48:441 et seq., a property owner's answer is timely if filed by the expiration of ten days following the date affirmative notice is mailed. La. R.S. 48:452, City of Baton Rouge v. F & K Investments, LLC, 2013-0501 (La. App. 1st Cir. 11/1/13), 135 So.3d 760. In this case, the notice of pendency was mailed to the defendants on September 6, 2012, thus defendants' claims for additional compensation expired ten days thereafter. Notwithstanding, relator, the Department of Transportation and Development, provided actual notice to defendants on several subsequent occasions, the last of which was on January 25, 2016. The defendants did not file an answer in this proceeding until February 17, 2016, more than ten days after the date of receiving the final notice, making their answer untimely. Accordingly, I would reverse the trial court's March 31, 2016 judgment denying the Department of Transportation and Development's motion for entry of final judgment, and grant the relator's motion for entry of final judgment. COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT /s/_________
DEPUTY CLERK OF COURT
FOR THE COURT