Geico Gen. Ins. Co. v. Berguiristain, 17-11010
| Decision Date | 08 September 2017 |
| Docket Number | No. 17-11010,17-11010 |
| Parties | GEICO GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. MICHAEL BERGUIRISTAIN, NICOLE MELISSA GALINDO, FRANK GALLETTI, MARIA GALLETTI, ANN MARIE MAGRI, et al, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
Non-Argument Calendar
D.C. Docket No. 5:15-cv-00045-JSM-PRL
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
Before WILLIAM PRYOR, JORDAN and ROSENBAUM, Circuit Judges.
Geico General Insurance Company appeals the judgment in favor of Ann Marie Magri and against an amended complaint for a declaratory judgment that an automobile insurance policy Geico issued to Frank Galletti provided no coverage for his automobile accident. Magri sued Galletti for serious injuries that she incurred while a passenger in a vehicle being driven by, but not owned by, Galletti. Geico sought a declaratory judgment that Galletti's accident was not covered because he did not receive or reasonably believe he had permission to drive the vehicle, but at trial, a jury made a contrary finding. Geico challenges the denial of its renewed motion for a judgment as a matter of law. We affirm.
We divide the background in three parts. First, we discuss the events that led to Galletti's automobile accident and Magri's lawsuit. Second, we discuss Magri's lawsuit, Galletti's automobile insurance policy, and the complaint that Geico filed for a declaratory judgment. Third, we discuss the trial.
On Friday, May 24, 2013, Galletti, his wife, and some of his clients traveled from Miami to Clermont, Florida to participate in an obstacle course race. The clients included Michael Berguiristain, Nicole Galindo, Andy Romero, and Jeanette Pardo, and they were accompanied by Jeanette's husband and son, and Romero's girlfriend, Magri. Before the trip, the group discussed going "off road"and shooting firearms in Clermont on property where Galletti's uncle, Charles Galletti, worked. The property was owned by Galletti's childhood friend, Justin Tirri, and his parents. On their arrival in Clermont, the group gathered at the home of Galletti's uncle, who everyone called "Uncle Charlie," and his long-time girlfriend, Jean Tirri.
As the group walked outside to depart for the race, they saw a pickup truck parked in front of Uncle Charlie's house and took photographs with the truck. The truck was yellow and had a logo advertising a business called "Off Road Hummer Experience." Justin Tirri owned the business, but had yet to open it to the public.
On Sunday, May 26, 2013, Galletti used his minivan to transport his wife and some of their weekend guests from his uncle's house to the Tirris' property, and the other guests followed in another vehicle. The entrance to the property had a large sign advertising Off Road and, from that vantage point, the guests could see two hangars, several Hummer vehicles, and a dune buggy. Magri, Galletti's wife, Berguiristain, Galindo, Romero, Magri, and the Pardo family were examining and photographing the vehicles when Galletti drove up in a Hummer vehicle with an Off Road logo. Everyone climbed into the vehicle and rode to an open area where they discharged firearms, after which they took turns driving the Hummer and a dune buggy parked nearby. After several hours, the group piled back into the Hummer to return to the hangar. On the return trip, Galletti made a sharp left turnthat caused the vehicle to roll side over side. Several of the group incurred injuries, including Magri, who had to be airlifted to a nearby hospital and treated for head trauma.
for a Declaratory Judgment
Magri filed in a Florida court a personal injury action against Galletti, Off Road, and the Tirris. Galletti and his wife, who were the named insureds in an automobile insurance policy issued by Geico, notified their insurer of the lawsuit. Geico provided Galletti a defense under a reservation of rights.
Galletti's insurance policy covered "damages which [he] bec[ame] legally obligated to pay because of[] [b]odily injury, sustained by a person, . . . arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of the owned vehicle or a non-owned auto." The policy defined a non-owned auto as "a private passenger, farm, or utility auto or trailer not owned by, furnished or available for regular use of either you or your relative . . . ." For the policy to apply, Galletti had to be "driving the non-owned auto" and its "use [had to] be with the permission, or reasonably believed to be with the permission, of the owner and to the extent of that permission."
Geico filed a complaint against the Gallettis, Magri, and other passengers in the Hummer requesting a declaratory judgment that Galletti's accident was not covered. Geico moved for summary judgment on the ground that Galletti had notbeen given permission to drive the Hummer vehicle. The district court denied the insurer's motion.
Galletti testified that he "basically stole" the Hummer vehicle "on the fly" so the group could "all ride together in one car." He "found [a Hummer vehicle with] a soft top that was easy to get into," "unzip[ped] the back[, reached in] and unlock[ed] the rear driver's door," and then "pretty much just hot-wired and rigged the ignition" using skills he had acquired as the fleet manager for the Aventura Police Department. Galletti acknowledged that Justin Tirri and his parents owned the Off Road property; that Tirri owned the Off Road business; that he had never discussed the accident with Tirri; and that Tirri had not pursued criminal charges or requested reimbursement for the damaged Hummer vehicle. Galletti stated that he had been childhood friends with Tirri, but they had not been in contact since high school. Galletti acknowledged that his uncle shared a home with Tirri's aunt and that there was a truck with an Off Road logo sitting in the driveway of his uncle's house on the morning of the race.
Discrepancies existed between Galletti's testimony and photographs taken before the accident. Galletti denied that his uncle was on the property before the accident, yet Magri photographed his uncle on the property before the group left in the Hummer vehicle. Galletti said that the vehicle "did not break down," but therewas a photograph of one passenger holding a battery charger. When asked about a photograph depicting the opened hood of the Hummer, Galletti answered that he raised the hood "to cool the engine."
Geico introduced deposition testimony from Galletti's wife, Maria, that Galletti told her sometime after the accident that he hot-wired the Hummer. She disavowed any knowledge about who owned Off Road or the property, yet she saw the truck with the Off Road logo in front of Uncle Charlie's house and stated that she had visited the Tirris' property previously to shoot firearms. Maria stated there was "nothing that looked like there was off road stuff" and there was "no off road experience," yet she acknowledged there were Hummer vehicles and dune buggies on the property.
Geico also introduced a video recording of Romero's deposition. Romero testified that, after the race, he talked to Galletti and his uncle about Off Road and then they watched "some kind of video . . . of the off-roading experience" on a "Facebook page." The three men discussed "putting together" the video, which had photographs of Hummer vehicles and "GoPro kind of footage . . . [of a vehicle] going through a trail" and of "a vehicle that was almost completely submerged in water." Romero had an "understanding [that Off Road] was [Galletti's] family's business," and Romero offered to help produce another video. Romero identified the yellow truck in the driveway of Uncle Charlie's house as "the truck that werode to the race in." Romero recalled traveling to the property, where he observed "several vehicles" in the hangars and "some people . . . around" who looked like "workers" because they were "moving stuff around and picking stuff up." He also noticed that "[s]everal of the hoods [of the vehicles] were open like they were being worked on."
Magri introduced excerpts from depositions taken of Eddy Pardo, Michael Berguiristain, and Nicole Galindo. Pardo remembered that "they mentioned Off Road" when planning the trip, and Berguiristain also remembered the group planning ahead of time "to go shooting" on Sunday on "a stretch of land" that "[Galletti] [had] told us that his uncle had." Berguiristain and Galindo assumed that Galletti's family owned the yellow truck sitting in his uncle's driveway and the Hummer vehicle in which the accident occurred. Pardo "s[aw] one guy" on the property who he "th[ought] . . . may have been working on a car or looking at a car or something." Berguiristain and Galindo testified they did not see anyone on site before the accident, including Galletti's uncle, but Berguiristain was uncertain whether someone came to help when the engine of the Hummer quit working or if Galletti retrieved a battery charger from the vehicle. Pardo did not remember having any mechanical problems with the Hummer and said that one of Galletti's clients was just "clowning around" in a photograph in which he was holding battery cables.
Magri testified that she did not participate in the race and instead served as "the picture taker" for the weekend. Magri authenticated several of her photographs, including images of the group posing with the yellow truck and with the Hummer vehicles on the property, of Galletti's uncle at the property before the accident, and of the raised hood of the Hummer and the battery charger in the open field. Magri described seeing the sign for...
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