Wilson v. State, Department of Public Safety & Corrections

FOIL, Judge.

In this appeal, we are asked to decide whether the State, as a custodian of prisoners, is liable for criminal acts perpetrated on two individuals by an escaped convict, where the incidents in question took place thirteen days after the escape. The lower court held the State liable to the victims. We reverse.

FACTS

This is a negligence action brought by victims of a robbery committed by an escaped convict against the State of Louisiana, through the Department of Corrections. The record shows that Robert Downs was confined to the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, Louisiana,…