Opinion
No. 13146.
February 14, 1977. En Banc. Rehearing Denied March March 21, 1977. Writ Refused May 26, 1977.
Price and Bolin, JJ., dissented from refusal to grant rehearing.
APPEAL FROM SECOND JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT, PARISH OF JACKSON, STATE OF LOUISIANA, HONORABLE DAVID T. CALDWELL, JUDGE.
Hudson, Potts Bernstein by Craig Henry, Monroe, for Red Ball Motor Freight, Inc.
Baker, Culpepper Brunson by Herman A. Castete, Jonesboro, for George W. Wyatt, d/b/a Wyatt's Firestone Store.
Before BOLIN, HALL and MARVIN, JJ.
This case presents similar facts and is against the same defendant as in Home Furniture and Appliance v. Red Ball Motor Freight, Inc., 343 So.2d 319 (La.App. 2d Cir. 1977), rendered this date.
Red Ball received the crated goods and signed a clean bill of lading in Dallas, Texas. From Dallas, the goods were delivered to Monroe, Louisiana, and eventually to the plaintiff consignee in Jonesboro, Louisiana. Subsequent to delivery and uncrating, damage to the goods and minor damage to the carton were discovered. The driver's testimony was essentially the same as in Home Furniture and Appliance v. Red Ball Motor Freight, Inc., supra. For reasons there assigned, and at appellant's cost, judgment is
AFFIRMED.
HALL, J., dissents and assigns written reasons.
I respectfully dissent for the reasons stated in my dissent in Home Furniture and Appliance v. Red Ball Motor Freight, Inc., 343 So.2d 319 (La.App. 2d Cir. 1977), decided the same day as this case.
It should be noted that in this case there was absolutely no evidence of damage to the container at the time of delivery by the carrier to the consignee.
Further, the shipment in this case was an interstate shipment and is governed by federal law. The rule consistently applied in federal cases is that a clean bill of lading issued on goods in a container is prima facie evidence only as to the condition of the container, not the contents. See, for example, Blue Bird Food Products Co. v. Baltimore Ohio Railroad Company, 492 F.2d 1329 (3d Cir. 1974) and Armour Research Foundation of Illinois Institute of Technology v. Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company, 311 F.2d 493 (7th Cir. 1963).