Spradlin v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 91-CA-01147-SCT

• Decision Date: 16 February 1995
• Docket Number: No. 91-CA-01147-SCT,91-CA-01147-SCT
• Citation: 650 So.2d 1383
• Parties: John S. SPRADLIN and Charles D. Cage v. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 1383

650 So.2d 1383

John S. SPRADLIN and Charles D. Cage v. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY.

No. 91-CA-01147-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

Feb. 16, 1995.

H.L. Merideth, Jr., Greenville, for appellants.

Edward A. Moss, Holcomb Dunbar Connell Chaffin & Willard, Oxford, for appellee.

Before DAN M. LEE, P.J., and BANKS and JAMES L. ROBERTS, Jr., JJ.

JAMES L. ROBERTS, Jr., Justice, for the Court:

John S. Spradlin ("Spradlin") and Charles D. Cage ("Cage") brought separate actions in

                the Circuit Court of Washington County, Mississippi, against State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company ("State Farm") seeking to recover damages under the uninsured motorist ("UM") coverage of an insurance policy issued by State Farm. 1  , 2  While traveling in an insured vehicle driven by Cage, Spradlin and Cage sustained personal injuries as a result of gunshots fired into the car by Robbie Wise, a passenger in another vehicle, one not covered by insurance.  State Farm denied the claims, stating that there was no UM coverage for such an incident under the terms of the policy or under Mississippi law.  On a motion by State Farm, the claims against that insurance company were consolidated by the Circuit Court.  Subsequently, the Circuit Court granted summary judgment on the consolidated claims in favor of State Farm and a final judgment was entered on November 6, 1991. 3  Spradlin and Cage appeal to this Court, raising the following issues
                

I. WHETHER OR NOT THE UM STATUTE EXPRESSLY MANDATES THAT ALL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANIES ISSUING AUTOMOBILE LIABILITY INSURANCE POLICIES AFTER JANUARY 1, 1967, INCLUDE UM COVERAGE AGREEING TO PAY THEIR INSURED ALL SUMS WHICH THE INSURED SHALL BE LEGALLY ENTITLED TO RECOVER AS DAMAGES FOR BODILY INJURY FROM THE OWNER OR OPERATOR OF AN UNINSURED MOTOR VEHICLE, THEN CAN STATE FARM REDUCE OR CUT DOWN THE SCOPE OF THE COVERAGE MANDATED BY THE UM STATUTE BY INCLUDING IN ITS POLICY HERE INVOLVED LANGUAGE REQUIRING THE BODILY INJURY TO BE CAUSED BY ACCIDENT ARISING OUT OF THE OPERATION, MAINTENANCE OR USE OF AN UNINSURED MOTOR VEHICLE.

II. WHETHER OR NOT, UNDER THE CONTEXT OF THIS CASE AND THE INTERPRETATION OF THE UM STATUTE BY THE MISSISSIPPI SUPREME COURT, SPRADLIN'S AND CAGE'S INJURIES DID ARISE OUT OF THE USE OF A MOTOR VEHICLE BY AN UNINSURED OPERATOR.

Finding under Mississippi law there is no uninsured motorist coverage for such an incident, we affirm the lower court's ruling and grant of summary judgment to State Farm.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

On the afternoon of March 22, 1990, Cage and Spradlin were at Po-Boy's Restaurant on Highway 82 in Leland, Mississippi, playing pool with Scotty Giachelli who was known to be a good player. After they had been there for some time, Donald Wise, his brother Robbie Wise and Larry Edwards came in and wanted to play pool against Giachelli. Giachelli refused. An argument ensued and a fight broke out between Cage and Donald Wise. After the fight ended Cage went out into the parking lot. He stated in his deposition that the Wise brothers and Edwards came out after him and two of them had something in their hands that he thought were bricks. Cage took a rifle out of the car he had driven to the restaurant and told them to get in their car and leave. They did. Cage went back inside the restaurant. He and Spradlin left about 45 minutes later.

After leaving the restaurant, the Wise brothers and Edwards went to Donald Wise's When the first shot was fired Cage put his foot on the brake, but was unable to continue driving the car. Spradlin pushed Cage over and managed to turn the car around and drive back to Po-Boy's Restaurant where an ambulance was called. Both Cage and Spradlin were hospitalized because of their injuries.

house. While there, Donald Wise got his Remington 12-gauge shotgun and loaded it. The three men then went back to Leland in Donald Wise's uninsured 1980 Cadillac. Donald Wise was driving the car and Robbie Wise was in the front passenger seat holding the shotgun. When they approached the intersection of Highways 82 and 61, Donald Wise spotted Cage and Spradlin turning onto Highway 61 North, a four-lane highway. While traveling down Highway 61, Donald Wise accelerated and pulled up beside the car driven by Cage and instructed his brother to shoot. Robbie Wise then fired one or more shots into the car driven by Cage and occupied by Spradlin. As a result of the shots fired into the car both Cage and Spradlin sustained bodily injuries. There was never any contact between the two vehicles. Donald Wise continued driving north on Highway 61 and did not stop until he was back at his house.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

In determining whether the trial court properly granted a motion for summary judgment this Court conducts a de novo review of the record. Daniels v. GNB, Inc., 629 So.2d 595, 599 (Miss.1993); Mantachie Natural Gas District v. Mississippi Valley Gas Company, 594 So.2d 1170, 1172 (Miss.1992).

A trial court may grant summary judgment "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." M.R.C.P. 56. A fact is material if it "tends to resolve any of the issues, properly raised by the parties." Webb v. City of Newton, 583 So.2d 946, 949 (Miss.1991) (citing Mink v. Andrew Jackson Casualty Ins. Co., 537 So.2d 431, 433 (Miss.1988) (quoting Mississippi Road Supply v. Zurich-American Insurance Co., 501 So.2d 412, 414 (Miss.1987)). The evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. If, in this view, the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law, then summary judgment should be granted in his favor. Otherwise, the motion should be denied. Brown v. Credit Center, Inc., 444 So.2d 358, 362 (Miss.1983).

Morgan v. City of Ruleville, 627 So.2d 275, 277 (Miss.1993).

In the case at bar, there is no genuine issue of material fact. The parties agreed on all factual issues and in fact set them out in a written stipulation. The only matter to be determined is whether the trial court erred in holding that as a matter of law, Cage and Spradlin were not entitled to recover under the uninsured motorist coverage of the State Farm policy for bodily injuries resulting from the shooting.

DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUES

Cage and Spradlin, the appellants, argue that by the language in its insurance policy, State Farm restricted, reduced or cut down the uninsured motorist coverage mandated by the Mississippi Uninsured Motorist Act, Miss.Code Ann. Sec. 83-11-101. The applicable portion of Sec. 83-11-101 reads as follows:

(1) No automobile liability insurance policy or contract shall be issued or delivered after January 1, 1967, unless it contains an endorsement or provisions undertaking to pay the insured all sums which he shall be legally entitled to recover as damages for bodily injury or death from the owner or operator of an uninsured motor vehicle, within limits which shall be no less than those set forth in the Mississippi Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Law ...

The State Farm policy involved here reads in pertinent part We will pay damages for bodily injury and property damage an insured is legally entitled to collect from the owner or driver of an uninsured motor vehicle. The bodily injury or property damage must be caused by accident arising out of the operation, maintenance or use of an uninsured motor vehicle.

The appellants contend that pursuant to the Mississippi's UM statute they were eligible to recover for bodily injuries they sustained when the insured vehicle they were traveling in was shot into by the occupants of an uninsured vehicle. This Court has twice held, in Roberts v. Grisham, 487 So.2d 836 (Miss.1986) and Coleman v. Sanford, 521 So.2d 876 (Miss.1988), that a shooting of an insured driver by an uninsured motorist did not arise out of the ownership, maintenance or use of that vehicle and therefore did not fall under the UM coverage of the insurance policies at issue in those cases.

In Roberts v. Grisham, 487 So.2d 836 (Miss.1986), Grisham and Roberts had previously had a dispute concerning some work done by Grisham for Roberts. Grisham followed Roberts down a gravel road until Roberts parked in front of a house. Grisham pulled up behind Roberts, got out of his car and talked to Roberts who was still sitting in his truck. Grisham then fatally shot Roberts in the head.

Roberts' widow and child sought to recover under Roberts' uninsured motorist coverage, claiming Grisham used his uninsured vehicle to block Roberts' truck, preventing his escape. This Court held that the shooting was a voluntary, deliberate and independent act that did not arise out of the ownership, maintenance or use of the uninsured vehicle. The Court went on to hold that there was no causal connection between the shooting and the uninsured vehicle, that the use of the vehicle was incidental.

In Coleman v. Sanford, 521 So.2d 876 (Miss.1988), the facts are even more similar to those of the case at bar. In that case Coleman and Sanford were involved in a minor collision. Once the police arrived they allowed Coleman to leave but asked Sanford to pull his truck off the road so a sobriety test could be administered. Instead of pulling off the road as instructed, Sanford began following Coleman. When Sanford caught up with Coleman's vehicle he moved to the right shoulder of the road and accelerated until he was just ahead of Coleman. With both vehicles moving Sanford shot through Coleman's windshield with a handgun, seriously injuring Coleman.

Coleman sought to recover for his injuries through his uninsured motorist coverage. Coleman argued that his case was distinguishable from Roberts because Sandford used the uninsured vehicle to catch up with him and Sanford was actually driving it when he shot him. This Court...