State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. McPhee

• Decision Date: 15 July 1983
• Docket Number: No. C0-82-1038.,C0-82-1038.
• Citation: 336 NW 2d 258
• Parties: STATE FARM FIRE AND CASUALTY COMPANY, Appellant, v. John Phillip McPHEE and Harold LeRoy Schroedl, Trustee in the Matter of the Wrongful Death of Linda McPhee, Respondents.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

336 N.W.2d 258 (1983)

STATE FARM FIRE AND CASUALTY COMPANY, Appellant, v. John Phillip McPHEE and Harold LeRoy Schroedl, Trustee in the Matter of the Wrongful Death of Linda McPhee, Respondents.

No. C0-82-1038.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

July 15, 1983.

Lommen, Nelson, Sullivan & Cole, Phillip A. Cole and Kay Nord Hunt, Minneapolis, for appellant.

Korba & Blonigan and William A. Blonigan, Gerald C. Magee, Minneapolis, for Schroedl.

Ronald L. Johnson, Hopkins, for McPhee.

Considered and decided by the court en banc without oral argument.

AMDAHL, Chief Justice.

This action is an appeal by State Farm Fire & Casualty Company (State Farm) from a decision in a declaratory judgment action commenced to interpret the terms of a homeowner's policy originally issued to defendant John McPhee (John) and his deceased wife Linda McPhee (Linda). State Farm sought a declaration of no coverage under the policy in a wrongful death claim brought by Linda's children, Mark McPhee (Mark) and Katie Schleif (Katie). Mark and Katie brought the action against John after their mother died as a result of a shooting accident which occurred on July 22, 1980 at John and Linda's home. John tendered the defense of the children's claim to State Farm pursuant to his homeowner's policy, and State Farm, in turn, sought a declaratory judgment of no coverage.

John and Linda purchased the homeowner's policy at issue in January of 1977 in conjunction with their purchase of a home in Lino Lakes, Minnesota. The policy issued by State Farm listed both John and Linda as named insureds, and automatically renewed annually upon payment of the premiums by John and Linda. This policy was in full force on July 22, 1980, the date that John fatally wounded Linda.

John and Linda began residing together in Lino Lakes in February 1977. On April 23, 1977, they were married and they continued to reside together in Lino Lakes. Also residing with them were Katie, Linda's daughter from a prior relationship, and Mark, John's and Linda's son.

On September 29, 1979, John and Linda separated. Apparently the couple had always had a stormy relationship, marked by heated arguments and occasional threats of violence by John against Linda. Upon their separation, Linda moved, along with the two children, to an apartment on Fillmore Street N.E. in Minneapolis. Linda remained at the address on Fillmore, and did not return to the house in Lino Lakes until the fateful evening of July 22, 1980.

The relationship between John and Linda became increasingly acrimonious after the commencement of their marriage dissolution proceeding in February of 1980. This antagonism apparently continued until the fatal day, July 22, 1980. On that day, John decided that he was going to do something in response to his exasperation over the continued indefinite status of the marriage dissolution proceeding. Shortly before 9 p.m., he called Harold Schroedl, Linda's father, and told him to relay to Linda that she should come and pick up her personal property still remaining at the residence in Lino Lakes. Although Mr. Schroedl objected because of the late hour, John insisted. As a result of John's call, Harold Schroedl, his wife Patricia, Linda, Mark, and Katie made arrangements to go to John's residence.

After the phone call to Linda's father, John decided that he wanted to impress Linda that he was serious about pursuing a quick resolution of the dissolution proceeding by scaring her. He decided he would fire one round with his shotgun and blow a hole through a window or wall. John removed his unloaded 12-gauge pump action shotgun from his bedroom closet and armed it with just one cartridge. John pumped the shell from the magazine into the chamber of the barrel, so that the cartridge was in a position to be fired when triggered. With Linda on her way, John concealed the loaded weapon under a blanket on his bed.

At some point after Linda and her family had arrived, John called Linda into his downstairs bedroom and asked her to check to see if it contained any of her property. When Linda walked out of the room carrying a 2- by 2-foot box of cosmetics, John took the shotgun from under his blanket and followed her, carrying the gun at his waist with the barrel end raised. John followed Linda to the stairs. When he reached the landing at the bottom of the stairs, the gun was pointed momentarily at Linda's upper torso and John had his finger on the trigger. Linda looked back at John, shouted, "No, John, no," and began to ascend the stairs. John took a couple of steps up the stairs.

At this point, Katie, who had been standing behind John, ran up, grasped the barrel of the shotgun with both hands and, standing on her tiptoes, threw her weight (90-100 pounds) down on the gun. John and Linda stared at each other in shock. Seeing her daughter grab the gun, Linda turned on the stairs, dropped the box of cosmetics, which spilled down the stairs, and slipped down the stairs herself. Linda slipped down several steps and, as she fell, grabbed the end of the shotgun with her hand. John resisted and tried to hold the gun on Linda, and, in their struggle for its control, the trio swung the gun back and forth, up and down. When Katie and Linda had the gun down by Linda's hip, John pulled the trigger and Linda was hit in the leg. Linda died a few weeks later from complications arising as a result of a blood clot. John eventually pled guilty to unintentionally causing the death of another while in the commission of a felony under Minn.Stat. § 609.195(2) (1980).

The declaratory judgment action was tried in Anoka County District Court before Judge Thomas Spence and a jury....