IMG_7202

Homicide 1ask Force (1ask Force) was established to investigate these murders, believed to be committed by the same individual referred to as the South Louisiana Serial Killer. In April 2003, the Baton Rouge Crime Stoppers (BCS) began publicizing a reward offer in newspapers, television stations, and billboards around the Baton Rouge area regarding the South Louisiana Serial Killer. A short time later, Lafayette Crime Stoppers (LCS) also publicized a reward offer. Both reward offers provided an expiration date of August 1, 2003. Accordina to the olaintiffs' petition, on July 9, 2002, Dianne Alexander was attacked in her home in lexander's son, Herman Alexander, arrived home during the attack and Ej 2 Of 4 n the property. Ms. Alexander reported the attack to local police and, later, her son described the attacker to the St. Martin Sheriff's Department. According to his investigative report, Lieutenant Boyd, the lead investigator on Ms. Alexander's attack, began to suspect that Ms. Alexander's attacker could be the same man identified as the South Louisiana Serial Killer, after investigators linked the death of a Lafayette woman to the suspected serial Killer. In May 2003, Lieutenant Boyd shared information regarding Ms. Alexander's attack with the Lafayette Sheriff's Department, who in turn shared the information with the Task Force. On May 22, 2003, Ms. Alexander was interviewed by an FBI agent assisting the 125571255 Task Force. Based upon that interview, a composite sketch was drawn and released to the public on May 23, 2003. Investigators believed the composite sketch matched the description of a possible suspect in an investigation being handled by the Louisiana Attorney General's Office and the Zachary Police Department. On May 25, 2003, a photo lineup was prepared and presented to Ms. Alexander, who identified her attacker as the same man suspected in the Zachary investigation, Derrick Todd Lee. On or about August 14, 2003, Ms. Alexander contacted LCS and sought to collect the advertised award, however, LCS informed her she was ineligible to receive the award. On February 22, 2006, Ms. Alexander and her son filed a lawsuit against BRCS and LCS, alleging that the defendants owed them $100,000 and $50,000, respectively, for the information they provided to the defendants. The defendants filed motions for summary judgment asserting that a valid contract never existed between the parties. Specifically, the defendants argued that the plaintiffs never provided information to Crime Stoppers via the tipster hotline and thus did not comply with the "form, terms, or conditions required by the Crime Stoppers offers[.]" The trial court granted the defendants' motions for summary judgment, finding that the offer from Crime Stoppers was conditioned on the information being provided to the defendant entities rather than law enforcement. The plaintiffs appeal, asserting that there is a genuine issue of material fact that the LCS and BRCS offers contained a requirement that acceptance of the reward must be done through the Crime Stoppers' tipline. Discussion Summary Judgment Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 966(B) provides, in part, that summary judgment "shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to material fact, and that mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Paragraph C(2) of that article sets forth the burden of proof applicable to the motion for summary judgment, providing: The burden of proof remains with the movant. However, if the movant will not bear the burden of proof at trial on the matter that is before the court on the motion for summary judgment, the movant's burden on the motion does not require him to negate all essential elements of the adverse party's claim, action, or defense, but rather to point out to the court that there is an absence of factual support for one or more elements essential to the adverse party's claim, action, or defense. Thereatfter, if the adverse party fails to produce factual support sufficient to establish that he will be able to satisfy his evidentiary burden of proof at trial, there is no genuine issue of material fact. On appeal, a trial court's ruling on a motion for summary judgment is reviewed pursuant to the de novo standard of review. Jones v. Estate of Santiago. 03-1424 (La.4/14/04). 870 So.2d 1002. Contract Louisiana Civil Code Article 1927 provides: A contract is formed by the consent of the parties established through offer and acceptance. Unless the law prescribes a certain formality for the intended contract, offer and acceptance may be made orally, in writing, or by action or inaction that under the circumstances is clearly indicative of consent. Unless otherwise specified in the offer, there need not be conformity between 1: the manner in which the offer is made anGEEGEE—_G—GEEEEEEEE o