Travelers Indem. Co. v. Obenshain
| Decision Date | 09 June 1978 |
| Docket Number | No. 770019,770019 |
| Citation | 245 S.E.2d 247,219 Va. 44 |
| Court | Virginia Supreme Court |
| Parties | TRAVELERS INDEMNITY COMPANY v. Joseph B. OBENSHAIN, Committee, etc., et al. Record |
Robert J. Ingram, Pulaski (Gilmer, Sadler, Ingram, Sutherland & Hutton, Pulaski, on brief), for plaintiff in error.
Edwin C. Stone, Radford (Davis & Stone, Radford, on brief), for defendants in error.
No brief for Joseph B. Obenshain, Committee for Gerald F. Brennan, defendant in error.
Before I'ANSON, C. J., and CARRICO, HARRISON, COCHRAN, HARMAN, POFF and COMPTON, JJ.
By motion for declaratory judgment filed in the court below, Travelers Indemnity Company sought a declaration that it was not obligated under the liability portion of a homeowner's policy to provide coverage to its insured, Gerald F. Brennan, for personal injuries suffered by George B. Hall, Sr., and George B. Hall, Jr., in a shooting incident. Brennan, a convict, by his committee, and the Halls were named parties defendant to Travelers' motion. In a final order, the trial court held that Travelers' policy provided coverage for "the shooting episodes" and that Travelers was "responsible for indemnification of Gerald F. Brennan for any judgment rendered against him on behalf" of the Halls. Travelers seeks reversal; only the Halls have appeared in opposition.
The shooting incident in question occurred April 9, 1973, within a matter of hours after Brennan had received from an attorney for Hall, Sr., a letter concerning a right-of-way Hall claimed over Brennan's land. Encountering the Halls in a Jeep on a public highway, Brennan "rammed" the vehicle in the rear with his truck and then, upon exiting the truck, shot the Halls numerous times with two pistols. Both Halls were seriously injured.
Indicted upon two charges of malicious wounding for shooting the Halls, Brennan was tried before a jury on the indictment involving Hall, Sr. Specifically disclaiming an insanity defense, the defendant was convicted and sentenced to serve 13 years in the penitentiary. Subsequently, with respect to the indictment involving Hall, Jr., Brennan entered a plea of guilty; he was sentenced to serve an additional 13-year term.
In separate motions for judgment filed against Brennan, the Halls sought damages for their injuries. Travelers was notified that the Halls would seek recovery under the homeowner's policy for any judgment secured against Brennan. Relying upon a policy exclusion, Travelers brought the present motion for declaratory judgment.
At trial of the motion, Travelers' policy was introduced as an exhibit. The liability portion of the policy provides that the company will pay "on behalf of the Insured all sums which the Insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages because of bodily injury . . . to which this insurance applies, caused by an occurrence." The policy defines an "occurrence" as "an accident . . . which results . . . in bodily injury." The policy imposes upon Travelers the duty to defend any action against the insured for damages to which the insurance applies. The insurance contract excludes from coverage, however, "bodily injury . . . which is either expected or intended from the standpoint of the Insured."
In deciding the declaratory judgment proceeding adversely to Travelers, the trial court assigned no reason for its decision. In their brief, the Halls say that the court decided that the shooting should not be classified as intentional within the...
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