7. Conduct trial and preserve the record for appeal, if in a court of record.1
- Consider approaching the landlord pre-trial for settlement purposes. Some judges will allow, or even encourage, a pre-trial conference with the court.
- Ensure that the court tries any exceptions before the merits and insist on a ruling on the exceptions.2
- If the landlord attempts to introduce evidence of lease violations other than those raised in the rule for possession, object based on improper expansion of the pleadings.3 A landlord’s attempt to raise bases for eviction at trial that have not been noticed or that were improperly noticed is a statutory and due process violation.4
- If the landlord has not proven a right to relief after presentation of his evidence (e.g., has not proven the existence of the lease and the tenant’s breach of the lease obligations), move for dismissal under La. C.C.P. art. 1672(B) after the landlord closes his case in chief.
- Present evidence necessary to support the tenant’s defenses; make a proffer of evidence if the court refuses to admit the evidence or allow the testimony.5
- Preserve all available grounds for appeal.
- If in a court of record, make sure to make contemporaneous objections and get all necessary exhibits admitted into evidence through a qualified witness.
- Remember that argument of counsel is not evidence.6
- 1Justice of the peace courts are not courts of record, and appeal is not based on the record below. As such, hearings tend to observe fewer formalities.
- 2Many judges forgo this requirement, so it is the advocate’s responsibility to argue the correct application of the law.
- 3La. C.C.P. art. 1154. The court has authority to grant the landlord additional time to amend the petition.
- 4200 Carondelet v. Bickham, 2017-0328 (La. App. 4 Cir. 10/25/17), 316 So. 3d 955, 962 (reversing eviction based on landlord’s attempt to raise new lease violations on the morning of trial); JoAnn Place v. Ricard, 2022-0456 (La. App. 4 Cir. 12/27/22), 356 So. 3d 518, 521, 528-29 (reversing eviction where landlord raised expiration of lease at trial, but had never noticed lease expiration as a reason for eviction).
- 5La. C.C.P. art. 1636.
- 6Hous. Auth. of New Orleans v. King, 2012-1372 (La. App. 4 Cir. 6/12/13), 119 So. 3d 839, 842.