Gulfsouth Credit, Inc. v. Jeffrey Wiley in his capacity of Sheriff of the Parish of Ascension ( 2020 )

STATE OF LOUISIANA
COURT OF APPEAL
FIRST CIRCUIT
2019 CA 0526
GULFSOUTH CREDIT, INC.
VERSUS
JEFFREY WILEY IN HIS CAPACITY OF SHERIFF
OF THE PARISH OF ASCENSION
Decision Rendered: JAN 0 9 2020
APPEALED FROM THE 231d JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT
ASCENSION PARISH, LOUISIANA
DOCKET NUMBER 123, 406
HONORABLE THOMAS J. KLIEBERT, JR., JUDGE
Richard D. Bankston Attorney for Plaintiff/ Appellant
Baton Rouge, Louisiana Gulfsouth Credit, Inc.
Brandon M. Bourque Attorneys for Defendant/ Appellee
Robert Ryland Percy, III Jeffrey Wiley in His Capacity of
Gonzales, Louisiana Sheriff of the Parish of Ascension
BEFORE: McDONALD, THERIOT, and CHUTZ, JJ.
McDONALD, J.
After a sheriff refused to execute a city court's writ of fieri facias, the creditor who
obtained the writ filed a petition for mandamus asking the district court to direct the sheriff to
execute the writ. The district court denied the mandamus petition, and the creditor filed this
appeal. We affirm.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
In April 2017, Gulfsouth Credit, Inc. obtained a money judgment in Baton Rouge City
Court against Carrie Ward, an Ascension Parish resident. At Gulfsouth' s request, the city court
issued a writ of fieri facias ( fifa) to the Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office ( APSO) directing APSO
to seize and sell Ms. Ward' s property " in the manner prescribed by law" to satisfy the
judgment. Gulfsouth' s attorney arranged to meet a Gulfsouth representative and an APSO
officer at Ms. Ward' s residence to execute the writ. On the scheduled day, however, the APSO
officer told the Gulfsouth representative that his superiors directed him not to execute the
writ. Later, APSO' s attorney wrote a letter to Gulfsouth' s attorney indicating APSO was unable
to execute the writ, because the " writ [ did not] contain a sufficient description of particular
items of property subject to seizure."
On October 3, 2018, Gulfsouth filed a petition for mandamus against Jeffrey Wiley in his
capacity as Ascension Parish Sheriff. Gulfsouth sought a mandamus directing Sheriff Wiley to
execute the writ of fifa. Sheriff Wiley answered Gulfsouth' s petition, admitting that APSO had
refused to execute the writ because APSO believed the writ insufficiently described the items
to be seized. The district court held a hearing on the matter, at which Gulfsouth introduced
the entire record into evidence. After the parties' argument, the district court stated that it
would deny the mandamus petition, because Gulfsouth needed to identify what items it
wanted seized. On February 19, 2019, the district court signed a judgment denying
Gulfsouth' s mandamus petition. Gulfsouth appeals.
DISCUSSION
Mandamus is an extraordinary remedy to be applied where the law provides no relief by
ordinary means or where the delay involved in obtaining ordinary relief may cause injustice.
La. C. C. P. art. 3862; Hoag v. State, 04-0857 ( La. 12/ 1/ 04), 889 So. 2d 1019, 1023. Further, a
writ of mandamus directed to a public officer is proper only to compel him to perform a
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ministerial duty required by law. See La. C. C. P. art. 3863. A ministerial duty is a simple,
definite duty, arising under conditions admitted or proved to exist, and imposed by law, and
which leaves no element of discretion to the public officer. Hoag, 889 So. 2d at 1024. When
the judgment denying mandamus does not turn on factual findings, the appellate court
reviews the judgment under the abuse of discretion standard. City ofBaton Rouge v. Douglas,
16- 0655 ( La. App. 1 Cir. 4/ 12/ 17), 218 So. 3d 158, 164, n. 6.
Gulfsouth argues that Sheriff Wiley has a ministerial duty to execute the writ of Fifa in
this case, because La. C. C. P. art. 321 states that a sheriff " shall execute writs" directed to him
by certain courts. However, Gulfsouth' s remedy for Sheriff Wiley's failure to perform this
alleged ' ministerial duty" is set forth in La. C. C. P. art. 334, which states that " the refusal of a
sheriff ... to perform any ministerial duty subjects him to punishment for contempt of court."
Thus, even if Sheriff Wiley's duty to execute the subject writ of fifa is ministerial, the
extraordinary remedy of mandamus is not appropriate, because La. C. C. P. art. 334 allows
Gulfsouth to obtain relief against Sheriff Wiley via a contempt proceeding. See La. C. C. P. arts.
221 et seq. Accord State ex rel. Pittman v. Conerly, 12- 0468 ( La. App. 4 Cir. 9/ 12/ 12), 100
So. 3d 339, 341 ( finding mandamus was not an appropriate remedy to compel a court reporter
to produce a transcript when plaintiff could pursue contempt proceedings against the court
reporter); Webre v. Wilson, 95- 1281 ( La. App. 1 Cir. 4/ 4/ 96), 672 So. 2d 1124, 1131- 32)
finding use of mandamus proceedings to collect money allegedly due was inappropriate when
plaintiff could have used a suit for a money judgment instead). Thus, the district court did not
abuse its discretion in denying Gulfsouth' s mandamus petition in this case.'
CONCLUSION
For the above reasons, the February 19, 2019 judgment denying Gulfsouth Credit, Inc.' s
petition for mandamus is affirmed. We assess costs of the appeal to Gulfsouth Credit, Inc.
AFFIRMED.
1 APSO based its refusal to execute the writ of fifa on Gulfsouth' s failure to identify what items of Ms. Ward's
property were to be seized. The district court denied Gulfsouth' s mandamus petition for the same reason.
Neither APSO nor the district court pointed to a statute or other authority that requires such identification. A
district court's reasons for judgment, however, form no part of the judgment, and judgments are often upheld on
appeal for reasons different than those the district court gives. Wooley v. Lucksinger, 09- 0571 ( La. 4/ 1/ 11), 61
So. 3d 507, 572. We affirm the district court's judgment because the extraordinary remedy of mandamus is not
appropriate in this case; thus, we need not address whether the district court correctly denied the mandamus
petition based on Gulfsouth' s failure to identify what items were to be seized.
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