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Giglio v. State, Department Child & Family Services
Citations: 129 So. 3d 871; 13 La.App. 3 Cir. 551; 2013 La. App. LEXIS 2609; 2013 WL 6641439Docket: No. 13-551
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal; December 17, 2013; Louisiana; State Appellate Court
Plaintiffs Marla and Barry Giglio initiated a lawsuit on May 17, 2012, against five defendants, including the State of Louisiana through its Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and the Louisiana State Police, following allegations of sexual molestation made by three minor children against them. The alleged incidents occurred on October 1, 2010, and were reported by the children to their foster parents, who informed DCFS. Subsequent investigations by law enforcement led to the issuance of an arrest warrant, resulting in the Plaintiffs' incarceration for approximately two weeks until bond was posted. Although a grand jury did not indict the Plaintiffs, they claim their lives were irreparably harmed due to the arrest. The lawsuit alleges wrongful arrest and negligent investigation by DCFS and the State Police, asserting that the agencies either knew or should have known the accusations were false. In response, DCFS filed multiple exceptions, including improper venue and prescription. The trial court upheld these exceptions, determining that the events did not occur in St. Landry Parish, making venue improper, and that the prescriptive period for filing the suit had not been interrupted. The Plaintiffs have appealed, arguing that the trial court wrongly granted the exception of improper venue and the exception of prescription, asserting that the relevant facts for their claims did occur in St. Landry Parish. The appeal's review will depend on whether there are contested factual issues or purely legal questions regarding the application of law to the undisputed facts. Louisiana Revised Statutes 13:5104 establishes the venue for lawsuits against state agencies, specifying that such actions must be filed in either the district court for East Baton Rouge Parish or the parish where the cause of action arises. In this case, plaintiffs filed suit against the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) in St. Landry Parish, claiming that the cause of action arose there due to false allegations of abuse and their subsequent jailing. DCFS contended that all relevant facts occurred outside St. Landry Parish, specifically in Evangeline Parish, where the children were surrendered, and where all meetings and court proceedings took place. The trial court agreed with DCFS, determining that the allegations and the plaintiffs' arrest were not operative facts related to the claims against DCFS. The court found that DCFS acted within its statutory duty by reporting allegations of abuse, and it had no control over law enforcement actions or the venue of any criminal charges against the plaintiffs. Consequently, the court upheld that St. Landry Parish was not a proper venue for the claims and affirmed the dismissal of the case based on improper venue and the grant of the exception of prescription. All costs of the appeal were assessed to the plaintiffs.