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NOTDESIGNATED
FOR
PUBLICATION
STATEOF
LOUISIANA
COURTOFAPPEAL
FIRST
CIRCUIT
pmg
 
r
R
2
CA
 957
KEITH
J
LABAT
VERSUS
F
HUGHLAROSE
Judgment
Rendered
DEC
2
 2
On
Appealfrom
the
 7th
Judicial
District
Court
In
and
for
the
Parish
of
Lafourche
Docket
No
 
6
45
The
Honorable
A
J
Kling
Judge
Ad
Hoc
Presiding
Keith
J
Labat
Thibodaux
Louisiana
James
D
Buddy
Caldwell
Attorney
General
David
G
Sanders
Bridget
B
DenicolaAssistant
Attorneys
General
Baton
Rouge
Louisiana
Paniff
ppelee
Pro
Se
Counsel
for
Deendant
ppelant
F
Hugh
Larose
BEFORE
GAIDRY
McDONALD
AND
HUGHES
JJ
 
HUGHES
J
This
isan
appeal
of
a
judgment
issuing
a
writ
of
mandamus
to
a
district
court
judge
ordering
him
to
allow
the
plaintiff
toinspect
and
copy
an
audio
recording
of
a
hearingin
a
civil
case
in
which
the
plaintiff
was
a
party
For
the
reasons
that
follow
we
amend
the
judgment
and
affirm
as
amended
FACTSAND
PROCEDURAL
HISTORY
On
September
9
2 5
a
hearing
was
conducted
in
Labat
v
Labat
No
96
59
La
 7th
J
efore
Judge
F
Hugh
Larose
An
audio
recording
wasmade
of
the
hearing
and
Keith
J
Labat
afterward
made
a
request
tolistento
and
or
ake
a
copy
of
the
recording
MrLabat
s
equestwasdeniedbythe
Lafourche
Parish
Clerk
of
Court
Vernon
H
Rodrigue
who
respondedthat
his
office
didnot
have
custody
of
the
recording
On
November
 4
2
Mr
Labat
forwarded
a
formal
written
request
to
Judge
Laroseasking
that
hebe
allowed
to
inspect
and
copy
the
recording
maintained
by
Judge
Larose
s
ffice
or
under
the
custody
and
control
of
his
office
Mr
Labatdescribed
the
recording
as
follows
Any
and
all
audio
and
or
video
tapes
c
d
ecordings
written
transcribed
or
otherwise
which
relate
to
inany
manner
however
slight
to
a
September
9
2 5
court
proceeding
in
the
matter
entitled
Jan
L
Labat
v
Keith
J
Labat
bearing
docket
number
96 59
in
and
for
the
Parish
of
Lafourche
State
of
Louisiana
 7
Judicial
District
Court
Italics
original
Judge
Larose
responded
to
Mr
Labat
s
equest
by
letter
dated
November
22
2
stating
as
follows
in
pertinent
part
Pleasebe
advisedthat
I
have
no
documents
responsive
to
your
request
Furthermore
pursuant
to
La
C
rt
25
the
clerk
of
court
isthelegal
custodian
of
all
of
the
court
s
ecords
The
court
reporter
under
La
C
P
rt372
has
the
duty
to
retain
and
maintain
thenotesand
tape
recordings
incivil
cases
2
 
Thereafter
on
January
3
2
Mr
Labat
filed
the
instant
action
for
mandamus
against
Judge
Larose
basedon
the
Public
Records
Law
LSA
R
S
4
 
t
seq
Additionally
Mr
Labat
sought
civil
penalties
and
attorney
fees
under
LSA
R
445
nd
all
costs
of
the
proceedings
All
of
the
judges
of
the
 7th
JDC
recused
themselves
andon
February
7
2
a
retired
Ascension
Parish
judge
was
assigned
ad
hoc
to
hear
the
case
Judge
Larose
representedbythe
state
attorney
general
s
ffice
filed
an
answeron
March
24
2
contending
thatthe
clerk
of
court
is
thelegal
custodian
of
the
court
s
ecords
pursuant
to
LSA
C
P
rt25
and
that
the
duty
to
maintain
the
notes
and
tape
recordings
in
a
civil
case
is
imposed
on
the
court
reporter
pursuant
to
LSA
C
P
rt
372
It
was
further
asserted
that
the
plaintiff
as
a
former
attorneyrepresenting
himself
was
not
entitledto
recoverattorney
fees
and
that
civil
penalties
were
recoverable
only
when
a
custodian
unreasonably
or
arbitrarily
fails
to
respond
to
the
request
pursuant
to
LSA
R
445
E
Following
an
April
6
2
hearing
judgment
was
signed
on
April
2
2
in
favor
of
Mr
Labat
ordering
Judge
Larose
to
permit
Mr
Labat
to
inspect
and
copy
the
audio
recording
of
the
hearing
held
onSeptember
9
2 5
inLabat
v
Labat
No
96
59
La
 7th
J
ithin
ten
days
from
thedate
of
the
judgment
Mr
Labat
s
equests
forpenalties
attorney
fees
and
or
damages
were
denied
Judge
Larose
filed
a
suspensive
appeal
of
the
April
2
2
judgment
assertingthe
trial
court
erred
 
nfinding
thatthe
Public
Records
Law
was
applicable
to
the
court
reporter
s
udiorecording
of
a
trial
proceeding
and
thus
effectively
superseded
court
procedure
thatrequires
a
request
and
payment
be
made
to
the
official
court
reporter
to
transcribe
the
court
proceeding
2
n
finding
Judge
Larose
was
the
custodian
of
the
audio
 ck

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