 |
|
| This October 2006 photo shows plaintiff Richard Le in a Lafayette hospital following his altercation with Nitetown bouncers. |
[Editor's Note: This story has been updated with a statement from Nitetown's attorney.]
A downtown Lafayette nightclub has been informed by an appeals court that a jury’s damages in a suit brought by two men beaten by the club's bouncers were too low and the club is on the hook for even more.
Nitetown, a Jefferson Street club popular among the college set for its live music, has been ordered by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal to pay $55,000 in damages to Richard Le and Edward Prince. The former, whose October 2006 beaten required hospitalization and physical therapy, is to receive $50,000; the jury’s original award was about $30,000. Prince’s award was increased from $1,900 to $5,000. District Judge Herman Clause presided over the March 2010 civil trial.
In its opinion released Wednesday, the appeals court characterized the award for Le as “abusively low.” The appeal challenging the jury's award, was filed by Le and Prince, whom the jury found partially responsible for their injuries.
The incident happened in an enclosed alley off Buchanan Street behind the Jefferson Street venue, which has a rear door that opens onto the alley. Nitetown suspended the bouncers, who never returned to work at the club, according to a statement released last year by the club’s owner.
Costs for the appeals court hearing were also assessed to Nitetown. Read the full opinion here.
Early Thursday afternoon, Nitetown attorney Thomas Hightower issued the following statement:
Nitetown respectfully disagrees with the three (3) to two (2) decision of the Third Circuit overturning the Judgment of the Trial Court. Two (2) dissenting judges essentially espoused Nitetown’s position. Nitetown will request that the Louisiana Supreme Court review the action of the Third Circuit Court of Appeal.
MAY 17 Here's a column from James Gill, this time in the Advocate. Gill, who has jumped ship from the Picayune, writes about the absurdity of dueling polls in this post. The numbers are so wildly different, it is obvious that both sides are "cooking the books," he writes. In particular, he looks at Sen. Mary Landrieu, and how her recent actions in DC have been received by those polled. Gill's acerbic, amusing prose is a welcome addition to a paper so conservative as to be occasionally lacking in personality.
MAY 17 Blogger Tom Aswell continues delivering bombshells about the state education department and Gov. Jindal's education "reform" efforts. In this post, he reports that students in the Shreveport area have been signed up for a charter school without their knowledge or consent. Most interesting to Aswell is how this Texas-based charter (with ties to GOP types) got the personal student information it has, if the students didn't give it.
MAY 17 This post by JR Ball in the Baton Rouge Business Report is an interesting tongue-in-cheek look at recent Baton Rouge economic development efforts. Among the items he examines is the idea that gaining a Costco makes BR a "world-class city." (Really? All you need is a different brand of Sam's? MK!) This effort, and other recent ones, are all built on the taxpayer's back, with tax zones, tax incentives and tax rebates, Ball writes.
MAY 17 Blogger CB Forgotston is critical of the legislature's reliance on a revenue-estimating committee's decision to include projected tax amnesty income in this year's forecast. That's a problem, CB posts, because the deadline for these people to pay their taxes is June 30, 2014. So when do you think these people who haven't paid taxes in years are going to pay their taxes? Surely not before June 30, and that means the money won't be there for this year's budget, he argues.
MAY 17 Here's an interesting blog out of California by a Hollywood writer, attorney and academic named Brian Alan Lane. He blogs about higher ed, and was a whistle-blower in a scandal over false credentials. In this post, he takes aim at LSU's new top dog, King Alexander. It's convoluted and a little confusing, but it sure makes Alexander a lot more interesting than he was yesterday.
MAY 17 Blogger Robert Mann writes about the LSU Board's refusal to allow Dr. Fred Cerise to testify before the legislature about Gov. Jindal's plan to close down all the state's charity hospitals and dump the poor on the private system. It's hard to imagine anyone more qualified than Cerise to testify about that, so why would anyone try to prevent him doing so? Mann thinks it is because the powers that be aren't interested in hearing any truth about the plan.
MAY 17 This post on the Louisiana Sinkhole Bugle, a blog that notes developments in the Bayou Corne and Jefferson Island salt domes, talks about a proposed expansion of the salt dome storage under Lake Peigneur in Iberia Parish. Residents are working against it for several reasons, including two biggies: the sinkhole disaster in Bayou Corne and the continuing, unexplained bubbling on the surface of the Lake.
MAY 17 NOLA police arrested more people Thursday accused of either being involved in the Mother's Day shooting or hiding the suspect afterward, this Gambit story reports. The NOLA police chief said he suspects the whole thing was gang-related and throws out a challenge to the gangs: he's got informants now, he says, and he knows a lot more than the gangs want him to know. The people who live in the neighborhoods terrorized by gangs are ready to talk, he says.
Most Read
in case you missed it
Subscribe to this comment's feed