Drumm v. Ft. Dearborn Casualty Underwriters of Chicago, Ill.

• Citation: 5 S.W.2d 648
• Decision Date: 01 May 1928
• Docket Number: No. 20308.,20308.
• Parties: DRUMM v. FT. DEARBORN CASUALTY UNDERWRITERS OF CHICAGO, ILL.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Missouri (US)

5 S.W.2d 648

DRUMM v. FT. DEARBORN CASUALTY UNDERWRITERS OF CHICAGO, ILL.

No. 20308.

St. Louis Court of Appeals. Missouri.

May 1, 1928.

Appeal from Circuit Court, St. Louis County; John W. McElhinney, Judge.

"Not to be officially published."

Action by Otto Drumm against O. E. Wegener, in which, after recovery of judgment against defendant, plaintiff instituted a garnishment proceeding against the Ft. Dearborn Casualty Underwriters of Chicago, Ill. Judgment for plaintiff in the garnishment proceeding, and garnishee appeals. Affirmed.

Geers & Geers, of St. Louis, for appellant.

Douglass & Inman, C. R. Cravens, and James J. O'Donohoe, all of St. Louis, for respondent.

BECKER, J.

The garnisher, as plaintiff, commenced an action in the circuit court of St. Louis county against O. E. Wegener, as defendant, for personal injuries sustained by him on May 8, 1924, when an automobile in which he was riding was struck by and collided with an automobile owned, controlled, maintained, used, and operated by Wegener. Wegener carried a policy of insurance with the garnishee, Ft. Dearborn Casualty Underwriters of Chicago, Ill., indemnifying him against any loss by reason of liability imposed by law upon the assured for damages on account of bodily injuries suffered by any person by reason of the ownership, maintenance, or use of the automobile involved in the accident. The policy also provided that the underwriters would defend, in the name of Wegener, any action brought against him to enforce a claim for bodily injuries, whether groundless or not, and under that clause of the policy the garnishee herein defended the suit.

The trial in that case resulted in a verdict and judgment against the defendant, Wegener, and in favor of the plaintiff, for $2,000. A remittitur of $500 was entered, and a motion for a new trial was in due course overruled. No appeal was taken. Execution was issued on this judgment and returned nulla bona, and thereupon a summons in garnishment was issued and service had upon appellant, Ft. Dearborn Casualty Underwriters of Chicago, Ill., as garnishee. The garnisher filed the conventional interrogatories to be answered by the garnishee, which answers in effect denied any indebtedness on the part of the garnishee to the defendant, Wegener.

The reply of the garnishee was to the effect that, at the time of the service of the writ of garnishment upon the garnishee, said garnishee was indebted to Wegener, defendant, and the garnisher (judgment...