Haskell v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.
| Decision Date | 08 February 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV.01-00183 SOM/KSC.,CIV.01-00183 SOM/KSC. |
| Citation | 187 F.Supp.2d 1241 |
| Parties | Earl P.K. HASKELL and Loralee K. Haskell, Plaintiffs, v. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Hawaii |
James J. Bickerton, Bickerton Saunders & Dang, Honolulu, HI, for plaintiffs.
Mark Morita, Richard Miller, Tom Petrus & Miller, LLLC, Honolulu, HI, for defendants.
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION, CLARIFYING ORDER FILED ON DECEMBER 7, 2001, VACATING JUDGMENT, AND ORDERING A STATUS CONFERENCE.
Plaintiff Earl Haskell ("Haskell"), a police officer, was injured in the line of duty. He was shot while trying to arrest Peter Moses ("Moses"). While the circumstances of Haskell's case are extremely sympathetic, the court cannot conclude that his injuries were "caused by an accident arising out of the operation, maintenance or use of an uninsured motor vehicle." Those injuries arose out of Haskell's attempt to arrest Moses. Any "use" of a vehicle had completely stopped as a matter of law by the time Haskell was shot, no matter how the court analyzes the phrase "arising out of the operation, maintenance or use of an uninsured motor vehicle." To hold otherwise, as Haskell would have this court do, would mandate coverage anytime an "accident" was in any way related to the "use" of an uninsured motor vehicle, no matter how tangential the relationship was between the accident and the use of the vehicle. Under Haskell's argument, if a person got into an accident with an uninsured motor vehicle, and then, several weeks later, got into a second accident with an insured motor vehicle while taking his or her car to have the damage from the first accident fixed, that person would have uninsured motorist coverage for physical injuries received in the second accident. Such a holding would expand insurance coverage beyond anyone's wildest imagination. The test for uninsured motorist coverage is surely not that broad.
Nevertheless, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 59(e), Haskell asks that the court reconsider its order granting summary judgment in favor of Defendant State Farm Automobile Insurance Company ("State Farm"), arguing that this court committed manifest errors of law and fact. Many of the alleged "errors" are raised by Haskell for the first time in this motion. Even if the court were to consider these new arguments, the court would find no error. Moreover, the court notes that Haskell cites this court's order out-of-context on numerous occasions, arguing that it stands for something that it does not. As Haskell has failed to demonstrate any manifest error of law or fact, the court denies Haskell's motion for reconsideration. However, by this order, the court, without changing the result of its earlier ruling, clarifies its earlier statement of the standard enunciated in Dawes v. First Ins. Co. of Haw., 77 Hawai`i 117, 883 P.2d 38, recon. denied, 77 Hawai`i 489, 889 P.2d 66 (1994). The court also vacates the judgment, only because, in arguing that less than $75,000 is at issue in this case, Haskell has highlighted for the court the pendency of issues concerning personal injury protection coverage. The judgment is vacated only so that the parties may address those issues.
Rule 59(e) authorizes motions to alter or amend judgment. Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 59, this court has the discretion to reopen a judgment, take additional testimony, amend findings of fact and conclusions of law, or make new findings and conclusions. Defenders of Wildlife v. Bernal, 204 F.3d 920, 928-29 (9th Cir.2000). Rule 59(e) motions may be granted for four reasons: 1) to correct a manifest error of law or fact upon which the judgment is based; 2) to present newly discovered or previously unavailable evidence; 3) to prevent manifest injustice; and 4) to account for an intervening change in controlling law. 11 Charles Alan Wright, Arthur Miller, and Mary Kay Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2810.1 (2d ed.1995). Motions to alter or amend judgment "may not be used to relitigate old matters, or to raise arguments or present evidence that could have been raised prior to entry of judgment." Id.
Haskell argues that this court committed manifest errors of law or fact.
Haskell first argues that the court erred in not analyzing the language in the policies separately from statutory requirements. Haskell says that, if the court had analyzed the policies' language to determine whether the coverage provided by contract exceeded that required by statute, the court would have concluded that the language was ambiguous and would then have recognized the applicability of Montana's "flowing from" test. Haskell is wrong.
Based on Wendell v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 293 Mont. 140, 974 P.2d 623 (1999), Haskell claims that the words "arising out of the operation, maintenance or use of an uninsured motor vehicle" in the policies are ambiguous. Haskell raises the alleged ambiguity in the policies for the first time on this motion.1 Haskell certainly could have raised this issue when he filed his motion for summary judgment. Rule 59(e) does not allow Haskell to raise this argument now.2
Even were the court to analyze Haskell's argument, Haskell would fail. The plaintiff in Wendell had been punched in his face after rolling down his vehicle's window immediately after he had stopped driving. The plaintiff was then dragged out of his car and beaten by men who had been following him in another vehicle. Id. at 626. Wendell held that there was a question of fact as to whether the plaintiff's injuries originated from, grew out of, or flowed from the use of an uninsured vehicle. Id. at 639-40.
In Wendell, the court noted that, when an uninsured vehicle was the instrumentality (the legal cause) of the insured's injuries, the average policyholder would certainly believe that his or her injuries arose out of the use of the uninsured vehicle. However, Wendell noted that the average policyholder would also believe that, when an uninsured vehicle was not the instrumentality causing the injuries, but was a "prime accessory, without which the injury-producing incident or the severity of the injuries would not have occurred," his or her injuries arose out of the use of the uninsured vehicle.3 Id. at 638-39. Thus, the Montana Supreme Court concluded that the "arising out of the use" language was susceptible to more than one interpretation, depending on the uninsured vehicle's relationship to the accident. The court held that, for purposes of uninsured motorist coverage, the policy should be read to cover an insured's injuries that arose out of the use of an uninsured vehicle "if the injuries originate[d] from, or [grew] out of, or flow[ed] from the use of the uninsured vehicle." Id. at 639. The Montana Supreme Court noted that, while this expansive test was required, each situation should be analyzed on a case-by-case basis. A case with only a remote or tenuous causal relationship between an insured's injuries and the use of the uninsured vehicle should not be viewed the same as a case in which the two are "inextricably linked." Id.
In the present case, unlike in Wendell, no reasonable juror would think that Haskell's injuries originated from, grew out of, or flowed from Moses' use of the Pontiac (even assuming that breaking into the Pontiac with intent to steal it or steal something in it was a "use"). The "use" of the uninsured vehicle was not "inextricably linked" to the shooting of Haskell. Instead, there was only a remote or tenuous causal relationship between Haskell's injuries and the use of the uninsured vehicle. As this court concluded in the order, the causal link was broken as a matter of law by the events that occurred outside the Pontiac. Order at 15-17. Accordingly, even if the court accepted Haskell's ambiguity argument, the result would not change.
Haskell additionally argues that the accident in this case occurred when he was shot by Moses. Under the language of the policies, uninsured motorist coverage is available if Haskell's injuries were "caused by an accident arising out of" the use of an uninsured motor vehicle. Haskell says that the shooting could not break the chain of causation between the accident and the injury because it was, in fact, the accident. Haskell misses the point. Even if the "accident" was the shooting, the "accident" did not arise out of the use of an uninsured motor vehicle. Instead, the "accident"/shooting arose out of an attempt to arrest Moses after he had been outside the vehicle for at least three minutes. Any "use" of the vehicle was merely the basis for the arrest.
Haskell next argues that the court erred by not addressing an argument he admittedly raised for the first time in his reply memorandum—that the alleged attempt to steal the Pontiac was a use. This argument does not justify reconsideration. First, the local rules provide that "[a]ny arguments raised for the first time in the reply shall be disregarded." Local Rule 7.4. Moreover, the statement is flat out wrong. Notwithstanding Local Rule 7.4, beginning on the bottom of page 13 of the order, the court addressed Haskell's argument that Moses was "using" the Pontiac when Moses was allegedly trying to steal it. Even if Moses was using the Pontiac when he was allegedly attempting to steal it, Haskell shows no manifest error of law or fact on this motion, as Haskell has not demonstrated that the accident arose out of that alleged use (the attempted stealing of the Pontiac). Any accident arose out of the attempted arrest of Moses several minutes after Moses had moved away from the Pontiac.
Haskell accuses the court of quoting Da...
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