Smith v. Fireman's Fund Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 16 December 2013
• Docket Number: B246288
• Parties: GREGORY SMITH, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. FIREMAN'S FUND INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant and Respondent.
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

GREGORY SMITH, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. FIREMAN'S FUND INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant and Respondent.

B246288

COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION SEVEN

Filed: December 16, 2013

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

(Los Angeles County

Super. Ct. No. BC445942)

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Charles F. Palmer, Judge. Affirmed.

Nelson & Natale and Silvio Natale for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Murchinson & Cumming, Edmund G. Farrell, Guy R. Gruppie and Eric P. Weiss for Defendant and Respondent.

Gregory Smith was seriously injured in a drive-by shooting while riding in the front passenger seat of a vehicle insured by Fireman's Fund Insurance Company. After Fireman's Fund denied his claim for uninsured motorists benefits under the vehicle owner's automobile liability insurance policy, Smith petitioned to compel arbitration of the dispute. The trial court denied the petition on the ground there was no physical contact between the vehicle in which Smith was riding and the shooter's car as required by Insurance Code section 11580.2, subdivision (b)(1),¹ when the identity of the operator or owner of the vehicle is unknown. We affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The underlying facts are essentially undisputed. Shortly after midnight on September 21, 2008 Smith was shot by an unknown assailant whose vehicle (a dark Mercedes SUV) pulled next to the Cadillac Escalade in which Smith was riding. The Escalade was owned by Kenyon Martin. Smith's cousin, DeShun Hart, was driving the Escalade with Martin's permission; Smith was riding in the front passenger seat; Smith's brother, Alex Alexander, was seated in the rear of the vehicle. The shooting took place shortly after Smith, Hart and Alexander left a Hollywood night club where they had been involved in a heated argument with an unknown male. Three shots were fired. One hit Smith in the back, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

On September 20, 2010, exactly two years after the shooting incident, Smith filed a lawsuit against Martin, Hart and Does 1 through 50 on the Judicial Council approved complaint form for personal injury, property damage, wrongful death (Judicial Council form PLD-PI-001). For type of action, Smith's counsel checked the "Other" box and inserted "General Negligence." The box for "motor vehicle" was not marked. With respect to the defendants sued as Does, Smith's counsel checked the box alleging all 50 "were the agents or employees of other named defendants and acted within the scope of that agency or employment." The form complaint attached a single cause of action for general negligence, which alleged, "Plaintiff was the right front passenger in his cousin'scar as defendant's vehicle pulled alongside plaintiff's vehicle. Defendant negligently allowed plaintiff's exposure to unreasonable risk of harm by not employing evasive action at which time another defendant shot at vehicle striking plaintiff in the back resulting in plaintiff's injury."

Smith voluntarily dismissed his action against Hart in February 2011 and filed a request for dismissal against Martin on April 21, 2011, leaving only Doe defendants.² Also on April 21, 2011 Smith sent a formal demand for uninsured motorist arbitration to Fireman's Fund, which had issued a personal automobile policy to Martin effective from April 10, 2008 to April 10, 2009. In a response dated May 17, 2011 Fireman's Fund stated it had determined it had no duty to provide Smith with uninsured motorist coverage and, therefore, declined the request for arbitration. Fireman's Fund acknowledged Smith was potentially an "insured" under the policy because he was occupying the insured vehicle at the time of the shooting and agreed he had suffered bodily injury within the meaning of the policy. However, Fireman's Fund explained his injury had not been caused by an accident, as defined, but rather was the result of an intentional criminal act. In addition, the shooter's vehicle did not qualify as an "uninsured motor vehicle," as defined by the policy. Because the owner and operator of that vehicle were unknown, uninsured motorist coverage was available only if the second vehicle had hit the insured vehicle, which all parties conceded had not occurred here. Finally, Fireman's Fund asserted Smith had failed to comply with the two-year notification requirement of section 11580.2.

Smith filed a petition to compel uninsured motorist arbitration in the Martin personal injury action; Fireman's Fund opposed the petition on the grounds set forth in its May 17, 2011 letter. The petition was denied on November 30, 2011. The denial was without prejudice because, in the court's view, uninsured motorist coverage might be available if Hart, the driver of the Escalade, was considered the uninsured motorist.

Smith filed a new petition to compel arbitration on June 5, 2012. Fireman's Fund filed an opposition in which it argued Smith did not contend Hart was the uninsured motorist and, in any event, Hart was driving an insured vehicle. With respect to the unknown shooter, Fireman's Fund insisted there was no coverage because there was no physical contact between the insured vehicle and the assailant's vehicle as required by both statute and the language of the insurance policy. In addition, Smith's injuries were caused by an intentional act; as such, he had not sustained bodily injury caused by an accident within the meaning of the policy. Finally, Fireman's Fund argued the uninsured motorist claim was barred by the statute of limitations because Smith had failed to file suit for bodily injury against the uninsured motorist or formally initiate arbitration proceedings by notifying the insurer within two years.

Following the filing of a reply by Smith and oral argument, the court denied the petition with prejudice on the ground there was no physical contact between the uninsured vehicle and the insured vehicle as required by 11580.2, subdivision (b)(1). Smith filed a timely notice of appeal.

DISCUSSION

The right to uninsured motorist benefits is governed by section 11580.2. Section 11580.2, subdivision (a)(1), requires, unless expressly waived by the insured, all automobile liability insurance policies to provide for recovery, within specified limits, for bodily injury or wrongful death for which the owner or operator of an "uninsured motor vehicle" is responsible.³ Section 11580.2, subdivision (b), defines "uninsured motor vehicle," and provides in part, "As used in this section, 'uninsured motor vehicle' means a motor vehicle with respect to the ownership, maintenance or use of which there is no bodily injury liability insurance or bond applicable at the time of the accident, . . . or the owner or operator thereof be unknown, provided that, with respect to an 'uninsured motorvehicle' whose owner or operator is unknown: [¶] (1) The bodily injury has arisen out of physical contact of the automobile with the insured or with an automobile that the insured is occupying. . . ."

The Fireman's Fund policy issued to Martin insuring the Cadillac Escalade in which Smith was riding when he was shot contained, in Part C, uninsured motorists coverage that paraphrased this definition. Specifically an "uninsured motor vehicle" is defined to include "a hit-and-run vehicle whose operator or owner cannot be identified and which hits: [¶] a. You or any family member; [¶] b. A vehicle which you or any family member are occupying; or [¶] c. Your covered auto." (Boldface omitted.)⁴

Whether evaluated by the statutory language or the simpler, plain English wording of the Fireman's Fund policy, the trial court properly denied Smith's petition to compel arbitration on the ground being wounded by a drive-by shooter does not constitute being hit by a vehicle whose owner or operator is unknown, nor did the resulting bodily injury arise out of physical contact with such a vehicle.⁵ As was true in State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Yang (1995) 35 Cal.App.4th 563 (Yang), in which the Court of Appeal affirmed a declaratory judgment denying uninsured motorist coverage to an individual who had been injured by a drive-by shooter, Smith was not hit by the dark Mercedes SUV and his injuries did not arise out of physical contact with it: "His injury arose out of physical contact with the bullet which struck him. The bullet was not set in motion orpropelled by the [Mercedes]. . . . The bullet was propelled by the gun from which the bullet was fired. . . . Any movement of the car would generally be insignificant insofar as the propulsion of the bullet is concerned." (Id. at p. 574.)⁶

In reaching its conclusion the Yang court explained and distinguished Inter-Insurance Exchange of Auto. Club v. Lopez (1965) 238 Cal.App.2d 441 and Pham v. Allstate Ins. Co. (1988) 206 Cal.App.3d 1193. In Lopez car X had hit car B and propelled it into car C, the insured vehicle. Car X then fled the scene. The Lopez court concluded this qualified as physical contact by car X within the meaning of section 11580.2. "We hold that where an unknown vehicle has struck a second vehicle and caused it to strike the insured vehicle, there is physical contact between the unknown vehicle and the insured vehicle within the meaning of the uninsured motorist endorsement." (Lopez, at p. 446.) In Pham a rock fell off a dump truck as it passed the insured vehicle travelling in the opposite direction. The rock bounced on the highway and then penetrated the windshield of the insured's car, injuring her. The Pham court concluded, as had the court in Lopez, there was coverage if the uninsured vehicle provided the direct application of force that...