Orrill v. Ram Rod Trucking

Ray Orrill Jr. (plaintiff) was injured when his vehicle was rear-ended by a truck owned by Ram Rod Trucking & Storage, Inc. (Ram Rod) (defendant) and being driven by Ram Rod’s employee, Richard Harton (defendant). When police arrived at the accident scene, they found a nickel-plated handgun in Harton’s truck. Harton was charged with assault. A police officer and tow-truck driver testified about the accident during Harton’s criminal trial, and Harton had the opportunity to cross-examine both witnesses. Orrill and his wife subsequently brought a civil lawsuit against Harton and Ram Rod to recover for Orrill’s injuries. At trial in the civil matter, Orrill testified that after Harton hit Orrill’s vehicle, Harton pulled out a nickel-plated handgun from the cab of the truck and threatened Orrill. Harton denied threatening Orrill and testified that Orrill had threatened Harton with a brick. Orrill offered into evidence the testimony given during the criminal trial by the police officer and tow-truck driver. Neither of the witnesses was present at the civil trial, and Orrill testified that nobody could find the tow-truck driver. The court admitted the transcript into evidence. The court ultimately found that Harton had not testified credibly and that the accident was Harton’s fault. The court thus awarded Orrill $47,417.84 in damages from Harton and Ram Rod. Harton and Ram Rod appealed to the Louisiana Court of Appeal, arguing that the testimony in the criminal-trial transcript was inadmissible hearsay.