No. 21-1586

Cheryl Romano, et vir v. Jazz Casino Company, L.L.C., et al.

Lower Court: Fifth Circuit
Docketed: 2022-06-23
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Tags: constitutional-rights due-process evidence evidence-review findings-of-fact inferences judicial-procedure jury-trial seventh-amendment summary-judgment
Latest Conference: 2022-09-28
Question Presented (from Petition)

I. Did the Fifth Circuit, in accepting the District Court's findings of fact, probable cause of the fall and legal authority, violate the basic principles of Tolan v. Cotton, 134 S. Ct. 1861, 188 L. Ed. 2d 895, 572 U.S. 650 (2014), and Anderson v Liberty Lobby, Inc. 477 U.S. 242, 106 S. Ct. 2505, 91 L. Ed. 2d 202 (1986), thus violating guarantees of due process when it granted defendants motion for summary judgment and:
(a) failed to acknowledge and address key evidence presented by the Petitioners, opting instead to consider only an obscure, unclear and inconclusive Video of the incident, completely ignoring the vast array of evidence that proves the cause of Petitioner's fall;
(b) failed to consider post-accident or forensic evidence (including Romano's Photograph which is a major piece of evidence that compliments the Video) secured during the accident investigation to determine probable cause of the fall;
(c) isolated a single piece of evidence, the surveillance video ("Video") (See Thumb Drive filed separately with Clerk), instead of considering all of the evidence in its entirety, including the Romano photograph depicting the corner of the display ramp which the courts claim caused the fall. In other words, armed with an obscure, unclear and inconclusive video of the fall, are the lower courts permitted to ignore other key evidence that may directly impact and clarify the video evidence?
(d) failed to draw justifiable inferences in Petitioners' favor in a light most favorable to Petitioners;
(e) weighed the evidence and made findings of fact to arrive at the probable cause of Petitioner's fall by viewing only the surveillance video and no other evidence; and
(f) never determined through a complete review of the key evidence whether a fair minded jury could return a verdict for the Petitioners?

II. Did the Fifth Circuit, in accepting the District Court's findings of fact, cause of the fall and decision, violate Petitioners' right to fair and adequate due process by not considering all of Petitioners' causes of action enumerated in its Complaints (App. 11a-17a), (including violations of Fifth, Seventh and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution), relying only on a single law which applies solely to the merchant defendants and not to the individually named defendants which were also summarily dismissed? (See LA-R.S. 9:2800.6(b)(1), Louisiana's Merchant Liability law). Neither the District Court nor the Fifth Circuit addressed the alleged violations of the Constitution.

III. By failing to provide a fair and reasonable due process in the evaluation of the motion for summary judgment, did the Fifth Circuit violate Petitioners' Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial by granting summary judgment?

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether the lower courts violated the standards set in Tolan v. Cotton, Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, and Eastman Kodak v. Image Technical Services when deciding the summary judgment motion

Docket Entries

2022-10-03
Petition DENIED.
2022-09-07
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/28/2022.
2022-08-18
Brief of respondents Jazz Casino Company, LLC, et al. in opposition filed.
2022-07-20
Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including August 24, 2022.
2022-07-18
Motion to extend the time to file a response from July 25, 2022 to August 24, 2022, submitted to The Clerk.
2022-06-21
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due July 25, 2022)

Attorneys

Cheryl Romano, et al.
Edward D. MarkleMarkle & Associates, APLC, Petitioner
Jazz Casino Company, LLC, et al.
Godfrey Bruce ParkersonPlauche Maselli Parkerson, LLP, Respondent