Callaway v. MAMSI Life and Health Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 26 June 2002
• Docket Number: No. 00163,00163
• Citation: 145 Md. App. 567,806 A.2d 274
• Parties: John W. CALLAWAY, Individually, etc. v. MAMSI LIFE AND HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANY.
• Court: Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

806 A.2d 274

145 Md. App. 567

John W. CALLAWAY, Individually, etc. v. MAMSI LIFE AND HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANY.

No. 00163, Sept. Term, 2001.

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

June 26, 2002.

Reconsideration Denied September 30, 2002.

John B. Robins, IV, Salisbury, for appellant.

Demetrios G. Kaouris (Richard A. DeTar and Miles & Stockbridge, P.C., on the brief), Easton, for appellee.

Argued before HOLLANDER, SALMON, GERARD F. DEVLIN (Retired, Specially Assigned), JJ. HOLLANDER, Judge.

This life insurance dispute arises from the death of David Callaway (the "Decedent" or the "Insured"), who died in July 2000, at the age of 39, as a result of autoerotic asphyxiation. At the time of death, the Decedent was the named insured under a group life insurance policy (the "Policy") issued by MAMSI Life and Health Insurance Company ("MAMSI" or the "Insurer"), appellee. John Callaway, the Decedent's brother, and John Callaway, Jr. and Bennett J. Callaway, the Decedent's nephews, are the beneficiaries of the Policy and the appellants.

MAMSI refused to pay death benefits to the beneficiaries, asserting two grounds: 1) the Decedent's death was not the result of an accident, as required by the Policy; and 2) the Policy excluded coverage for death resulting from intentional self-injury. Thereafter, John Callaway, individually and as parent and guardian of his two sons, filed suit in the Circuit Court for Wicomico County against the Insurer, claiming breach of contract.

The parties subsequently filed cross-motions for summary judgment. At the conclusion of the motions hearing, the circuit court ruled that the Insured's death was not the result of an accident, but was the result of an intentional self-injury. Therefore, the court granted summary judgment in favor of MAMSI. From that decision, appellants noted this appeal. They present several questions for our consideration, which we have combined and rephrased for clarity:

1. Did the court err in granting summary judgment in favor of MAMSI, on the ground that the Insured's death was not the result of an accident under the terms of the Policy?

2. Did the court err in granting summary judgment in favor of the Insurer, on the ground that the Insured's death was the result of an intentional self-injury under the terms of the Policy?

For the reasons that follow, we shall reverse.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The circumstances of the Insured's death are not in dispute. They are pertinent to the question of whether the death was the result of an accident or an intentional self-injury.

The Insured's body was found at his residence on the evening of July 5, 2000, when Detective James Seibert of the Wicomico County Sheriff's Office was notified of an unattended death and proceeded to the Insured's home. In his report, Detective Seibert described the scene of the bedroom where the Insured's body was recovered. The detective observed the nude body of the Insured, on his back. The Insured's hands were tied behind his back, and his feet were bound together at the ankles with rope. A plastic bag covered the head of the body, and a brown belt was tightened around the neck. Detective Seibert also observed that the wall opposite the body "was covered with a large amount of centerfold pictures of naked females." His report continued:

D/Sgt. Seibert further observed a white... rope tied around the body's neck, with this rope extending up to the ceiling. D/Sgt. Seibert observed this rope enter into a pulley mechanism, which was embedded into the ceiling. This rope then extended along the ceiling toward the bedroom's entrance door. Near the door entrance, this rope entered a second pulley embedded into the ceiling. Attached to this rope was a 25 lb weight training plate, which was pulled up to the ceiling. The weight appeared to be suspended up toward the ceiling by the weight of the body. The rope then extended down to the floor, and over the feet of the body.

An autopsy was performed at the office of the Chief Medical Examiner on July 6, 2000. According to the Death Certificate dated July 10, 2000, signed by Assistant Medical Examiner Stephen S. Radentz, M.D., the "immediate cause" of the Insured's death was "asphyxiation," and the manner of death was an "Accident." The Death Certificate contains a box labeled "Describe how injury occurred," and the physician inserted "Autoerotic activity."

The Report of the Post Mortem Examination, dated October 11, 2000, also indicates that the Insured "died of ASPHYXIATION," and that "[t]he manner of death is ACCIDENT."¹ According to the Post Mortem Report, the body had "a plastic bag over the head and ligatures about the neck, wrists, and ankles...." Upon removal of the ligatures, however, "there was no evidence of injury to the underlying neck, wrists and ankles." In addition, the Decedent had "a piece of insulated electrical wire with two metallic `alligator' clips at both ends attached to [his] nipples...."

The section of the report titled "Evidence of Injury" refers to the release mechanisms employed by the Decedent. It states, in part:

There was also a yellow 1/4" synthetic rope attached to the loop binding the hands with a quick release knot secured by a wooden clothes pin. This rope was attached to a pulley to the above-mentioned leather belt around the neck and, according to the investigation reports, was strung through two additional pulleys attached to the ceiling of the room with a 25-pound weight at the end. Reportedly, an additional piece of rope was tied to the line at the ceiling between the pulleys. Pulling of this rope would cause lifting of the attached weight, releasing the tension applied to the neck loops and wrists. The legs were tied at the level of the malleoli with four loops of 1/4" cotton rope tied between the legs, with transverse loops forming a Figure "8" knot.... The deceased held a 4-1/2 foot long strap in his right hand.

The Medical Examiner opined:

This 39-year-old white male, DAVID CALLAWAY, died of ASPHYXIATION. The manner of death is ACCIDENT. The decedent was discovered in his secured residence with a plastic bag secured over his head, a belt about his neck, and his wrists and ankles bound. The bindings were elaborate and had several "escape" mechanisms. Erotic materials (photographs) were also present. The results of the autopsy and investigation indicate that the decedent accidentally asphyxiated (suffocated) while engaged in an erotic activity. The complexity of the arrangements is typical for such activity; psychological background of such undertakings is complex and not entirely understood....

(Emphasis added).

It is undisputed that the Insured was killed by asphyxiation as a result of his voluntary participation in a sexual activity known as autoerotic asphyxiation. For purposes of this case, the parties agree that there is no indication that the Decedent died as a result of homicide, suicide, foul play, or natural causes, and that the suffocation was an unintended consequence of the autoerotic activity.

Autoerotic asphyxiation, also known as autoerotic hanging, "is the practice of inducing cerebral anoxia, usually by means of self-applied ligatures or suffocating devices, while the individual masturbates to orgasm...."² Ligatures around the neck, and other suffocation devices, are used for the purpose of "limiting the flow of oxygen to the brain during masturbation in an attempt to heighten sexual pleasure." Todd v. AIG Life Ins. Co., 47 F.3d 1448, 1450 (5th Cir.1995). Nerve centers in the brain are stimulated by asphyxia, which "produces a state of hypercapnia (an increase in carbon dioxide in the blood) and a concomitant state of hypoxia (a decrease in oxygen in the blood), all of which result in an increased intensity of sexual gratification." Padfield v. AIG Life Ins. Co., 290 F.3d 1121, 1125, 2002 U.S.App. Lexis 9422 (9th Cir.2002); see Conn. Gen. Life Ins. Co. v. Tommie, 619 S.W.2d 199, 202 (Tex.Civ.App.1981).

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (Fourth Edition), known as DSM-IV, autoerotic asphyxiation, or "hypoxyphilia," is a mental disorder in the category of Sexual Masochism. The DSM-IV indicates that the practice involves "sexual arousal by oxygen deprivation obtained by means of chest compression, noose, ligature, plastic bag, mask, or chemical...." DSM-IV, § 302.83, at 529.

Those who practice autoerotic asphyxiation typically utilize some type of escape mechanism to protect against suffocation in the event of a loss of consciousness. Nevertheless, the DSM-IV indicates that "accidental deaths sometimes occur" as a consequence of the practice, primarily due to "equipment malfunction, errors in the placement of the noose or ligature, or other mistakes...." DSM-IV, § 302.83, at 529. The DSM-IV estimates that "two hypoxphilia-caused deaths per million population are detected and reported each year." Id.

In an article published in 1996, titled "The Autoerotic Asphyxiation Syndrome In Adolescent and Young Adult Males," submitted by appellants to the court below, the author describes autoerotic asphyxiation as an "abnormal sexual behavior," and notes that it is "probably the most bizarre and dangerous" of the "paraphilias...." According to the author, those who engage in the practice do not seek to become so strangled as to lose consciousness. Rather, as the author explains, "sexuoerotic arousal and attainment of orgasm depend on self-strangulation and asphyxiation up to, but not including, loss of consciousness." (Emphasis added). The author notes that sexual sensation is enhanced "through interference with the blood supply to the brain, causing cerebral anoxia," but the degree of that anoxia is only meant to reach the point at which it "is subjectively perceived as giddiness, lightheadedness, and exhilaration, which reinforces the mastubatory sensation."

The article indicates that constriction of the neck is the most common...