Naggy v. Provident Life & Accident Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 23 June 1934
• Docket Number: No. 42347.,42347.
• Citation: Naggy v. Provident Life & Accident Ins. Co., 218 Iowa 694, 255 N.W. 526 (Iowa 1934)
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court
• Parties: NAGGY v. PROVIDENT LIFE & ACCIDENT INS. CO.

218 Iowa 694

255 N.W. 526

NAGGY

v.PROVIDENT LIFE & ACCIDENT INS. CO.

No. 42347.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

June 23, 1934.

Appeal from District Court, Mahaska County; Frank Bechly, Judge.

This action was brought upon a life insurance policy providing for the payment of benefits in case the insured came to his death through external, violent, and accidental means.The trial court directed a verdict for the defendant.From such action this appeal is prosecuted.

Affirmed.

W. H. Keating, of Oskaloosa, for appellant.

Parrish, Cohen, Guthrie & Watters, of Des Moines, and Devitt, Eichhorn & Devitt, of Oskaloosa, for appellee.

CLAUSSEN, Chief Justice.

The defendant insurance company issued to one Nick Naggy a policy of life insurance, in which plaintiff was named beneficiary, which provided for the payment of certain specified benefits, in case the insured came to his death through external, violent, and accidental means.This suit is brought to recover such benefits; it being alleged in the petition that the said Nick Naggy was accidentally injured by unintentionally taking poison, as a result of which he died.The record discloses that the insured had a number of teeth extracted about a week before the date of his death.Subsequent to the extraction of such teeth the insured suffered from severe chills.The day before his death, he arose in the morning for the purpose of going to work, but suffered another chill and returned to his bed.Later on and at about 10:30 that morning he left his home.In the meantime his wife also went away from home, and upon her return at about 2:30 in the afternoon her husband was in the bedroom very sick.He had evidently been drinking.He was vomiting.The odor of liquor was present.His condition became worse, and finally about 5:30 a physician was summoned.The insured's condition did not improve.The following day at about 1 o'clock p. m. the physician was summoned again.The insured died at about 6:30 p. m. It is certain that the insured procured and drank the liquor which resulted in his death between 10:30 a. m. and 2:30 p. m. on the day preceding his death.The record is entirely silent as to what the insured did during this period of time, except that it is revealed that he purchased some groceries.It does not disclose where the insured obtained the liquor, its kind or character, or the quantity which he drank.The physician testified that the odor on the insured's breath was about the same as was produced by the quality of “hootch” sold in that neighborhood.The evidence indicates that the liquor consumed by the insured contained some fusel oil, for the physician testified that the insured's breath smelled of it while he was alive.There is no evidence in the record to indicate that this poison was present in unusual quantities in the liquor which the insured consumed.In fact there is no evidence in the record in relation to fusel oil except the statement of the physician that fusel oil is a poison and that the insured's breath smelled of it while he was alive.The physician testified that the cause of death of the insured was “an overdose of liquor.This means he was poisoned from the effects of it, he took more than he could stand.”

At the close of plaintiff's case the court sustained a motion...