## Facts

- Sabrina Corbello was killed when a train owned and operated by Southern Pacific Transportation Co. struck her vehicle at a Louisiana highway grade crossing near Lacassine.
- The collision occurred on February 19, 1987, in the late afternoon, while Sabrina was driving south on Highway L‑1.
- Southern Pacific had recently been doing track work near the crossing. A maintenance crew had placed barricades and removed at least one crossbuck sign during the work; on the day of the accident, the crew removed the barricades but did not re-erect the crossbuck sign on the north side of the tracks.
- Sabrina’s parents, Paul and Dorothy Corbello, filed a wrongful-death action against Southern Pacific. In a consolidated action, Paul Corbello and his insurer (State Farm) sought property-damage recovery for the vehicle.
- At trial, Southern Pacific presented “positive” testimony from crew members that the whistle was timely sounded as the train approached the crossing. Southern Pacific also called two non-employee witnesses who were near the crossing and likewise testified that the whistle was timely sounded.
- The Corbellos presented several residents who lived near the crossing and testified in “negative” form that, in their experience, Southern Pacific crews customarily did not blow the whistle at that crossing and that they often did not hear whistles there.
- Southern Pacific objected to the residents’ negative/custom testimony, but the trial court admitted it.
- The jury found Southern Pacific 75% at fault and Sabrina 25% at fault. It awarded each parent $250,000 in wrongful-death damages and $75,000 for funeral and related expenses, and it awarded $250 in the consolidated property-damage case.
- The trial court denied Southern Pacific’s post-trial motions (including JNOV, new trial, and remittitur). Southern Pacific appealed; the plaintiffs answered the appeal disputing any fault assigned to Sabrina.

## Issues

1. Whether the jury was clearly wrong (manifestly erroneous) in finding Southern Pacific negligent and a cause-in-fact of the collision.
2. Alternatively, whether the jury was clearly wrong in allocating fault at 75% to Southern Pacific and 25% to Sabrina.
3. Whether the $250,000 wrongful-death award to each parent was excessive (and whether the trial court should have granted remittitur).

## Decision

- The Louisiana Court of Appeal, Third Circuit, affirmed the judgment in all respects.
- The court held the jury could credit the residents’ negative/custom testimony regarding whistle use and could reject the contrary positive testimony.
- The court found no manifest error in the jury’s finding of Southern Pacific’s negligence and causation, including the inference that the whistle was not sounded.
- The court found no manifest error in the 75/25 comparative-fault allocation.
- The court found no abuse of discretion in the $250,000 wrongful-death awards to each parent and declined to reduce them.

## Legal Principles

- A railroad has a statutory duty to maintain crossbuck warning signs at public-road grade crossings under Louisiana law (LSA–R.S. 32:169); failure to maintain required crossing signage can constitute negligence.
- “Negative” testimony (a witness testifying that a warning signal was not heard) may be admissible and probative when the witness was situated so that the signal likely would have been heard if given; the factfinder may weigh such testimony against “positive” testimony that the signal was sounded.
- Evidence of custom or habitual practice at a particular location (such as a claimed practice of not blowing a whistle at a crossing) may be relevant on whether a warning was given on the accident occasion.
- Appellate review of a jury’s factual findings on negligence, causation, and comparative fault is governed by the manifest error/clearly wrong standard; where the record supports reasonable credibility choices and reasonable inferences, an appellate court will not reweigh the evidence.
- General damage awards in wrongful-death cases are reviewed for abuse of discretion; an appellate court intervenes only when the award is beyond the range a reasonable trier of fact could assess based on the record.

## Conclusion

The court of appeal affirmed a jury verdict holding Southern Pacific primarily responsible for a fatal grade-crossing collision, concluding that the jury was entitled to consider and credit residents’ negative and custom-of-nonwarning testimony about whistle use, and that the record reasonably supported the findings of negligence and causation, the 75%/25% fault allocation, and the $250,000 wrongful-death awards to each parent.


Corbello v. Southern Pacific Transportation Co., 586 So. 2d 1383 (1991)