State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Wicka

• Court: Minnesota Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: LANSING
• Citation: State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Wicka, 461 N.W.2d 236 (Minn. App. 1990)
• Decision Date: 09 October 1990
• Docket Number: No. C4-90-312,C4-90-312
• Parties: STATE FARM FIRE & CASUALTY COMPANY, Respondent, v. James C. WICKA, Special Administrator of the Estate of Stephen Bradley Kintop, Defendant, Paul R. Peterson, Appellant.

Page 236

461 N.W.2d 236

STATE FARM FIRE & CASUALTY COMPANY, Respondent, v. James C. WICKA, Special Administrator of the Estate of Stephen Bradley Kintop, Defendant Paul R. Peterson, Appellant.

No. C4-90-312.

Court of Appeals of Minnesota.

Oct. 9, 1990.

Review Granted Dec. 14, 1990.

Syllabus by the Court

1. When the jury was advised, over objection, how the special verdict would affect the outcome of the case, the trial court acted within its discretion in ordering a new trial.

2. Under State Farm's homeowner policy, the intentional act exclusion is inoperative if the insured is deprived, by reason of mental illness, of the mental capacity to govern conduct in accordance with reason.

3. There is a genuine issue of fact on the mental capacity of the insured.

W. Scott Herzog and Peter A. Koller, Moss & Barnett, Minneapolis, for appellant.

William M. Hart and Kenneth W. Dodge, Meagher & Geer, Minneapolis, for respondent.

Considered and decided by LANSING, P.J., and KALITOWSKI and DAVIES, JJ.

OPINION

LANSING, Judge.

Paul Peterson challenges the trial court's order granting a new trial based on the jury's knowledge of the affect of the verdict on insurance coverage. Peterson also challenges the subsequent summary judgment for State Farm on the issue of the intentional act exclusion. We affirm the order for a new trial but reverse the order for summary judgment.

FACTS

Stephen Kintop shot and killed himself after firing four rounds into the head of Paul Peterson. Peterson, although seriously injured, survived the incident and sued Kintop's estate for damages. The special administrator of Kintop's estate tendered defense of the action to State Farm Fire & Casualty Company, which insured Peterson under a homeowner's policy.

State Farm began this declaratory judgment action to determine whether the homeowner's policy provided liability coverage for the injuries sustained by Peterson. According to State Farm, there was no coverage because Kintop's conduct fell within the intentional act exclusion of the insurance policy, which provided:

Medical Payments to Others do not apply to:

(a) bodily injury or property damage which is expected or intended by the insured * * *.

Peterson's sole theory of insurance coverage rests on the proposition that Kintop, because of mental illness, lacked the mental capacity to intend injury.

The record discloses a series of Kintop's erratic and abusive acts prior to the shooting incident. In 1980, Kintop began a dating relationship with Colleen Hughes, marked by several incidents of abnormal conduct. One of the first occurred in April 1981, when Kintop showed Hughes a gun and threatened to kill himself if she broke up with him. In May 1981, Kintop and Hughes were driving together when Kintop pulled the car off to the side of the road and punched her in the face. In June 1981, Kintop and Hughes were again driving together when Kintop pulled Hughes' head into his lap, claiming he was going to kill both of them.

Kintop's erratic behavior did not improve during the next several months, and in October 1982, Hughes broke up with him when he shoved his head through her bedroom wall after unsuccessfully attempting to rape her. Hughes began dating Peterson but continued to see Kintop socially during November and December 1982. On December 28, 1982, Kintop apparently struck Hughes several times, pulled some of her hair out, spoke in a "weird language," and licked her head all over.

Kintop's bizarre behavior accelerated and on December 31, 1982 at 3:00 a.m., Kintop arrived unexpectedly at Hughes' home. Hughes invited him in and the two of them, along with Hughes' roommate, sat down to talk. When Hughes received a telephone call from Peterson, Kintop dumped a beer on her head and ripped off her bathrobe. Hughes began to scream, prompting Kintop to stick his finger down her throat and slam her to the floor. Then, "with a real sad look", Kintop ran out the back door. A short time later Kintop called Hughes on the telephone and Hughes told him she intended to get a restraining order. Kintop responded that she needn't worry, "you'll never see me again." Hughes finished the conversation and went upstairs to bed.

Peterson arrived at Hughes' home and began talking to her roommates downstairs. While they were talking, Kintop, armed with a gun, broke down the front door to the house. Peterson fled out the back door, but Kintop chased him into the street and shot him in the head four times. Then Kintop killed himself.

The procedural history of this declaratory judgment action is lengthy. In August 1986, the trial court denied a motion by State Farm for summary judgment. At the end of September 1988, a jury trial was held on the single question of whether Kintop, at the time of the shooting, lacked the mental capacity to intend to injure Peterson. Dr. William Brauer, a psychiatrist, testified at trial that, in his opinion, based on Kintop's history of bizarre behavior, Kintop had a deranged intellect which deprived him of the mental capacity to govern his conduct in accordance with reason. The jury apparently agreed with this assessment and returned a special verdict finding that Kintop lacked the mental capacity to intend to shoot Peterson.

In February 1989, the trial court ordered a new trial, concluding that it had violated Minn.R.Civ.P. 49.01(a) by telling the jury how the special verdict would affect the ultimate outcome of the case. In July 1989, the case was assigned to another judge, and State Farm renewed its motion for summary judgment, this time successfully. The trial court ruled that Dr. Brauer's testimony was not competent evidence and concluded that there was inadequate evidence to support a reasonable finding of mental incapacity.

Peterson ¹ now appeals, challenging the order for a new trial and the granting of summary judgment.

ISSUES

1. Did the trial court abuse its discretion in ordering a new trial because it had advised the jury, over State Farm's objection, how the special verdict would affect the outcome of the case?

2. Is the "intentional act" exclusion in State Farm's homeowner's insurance policy inoperative, as a matter of law, if the insured is insane at the time of injury?

3. Is there a genuine issue of material fact on whether the insured's acts were intentional?

ANALYSIS

I.

At the outset, we must consider whether the trial court correctly ordered a new trial based on Minn.R.Civ.P. 49.01(a) (1988). Rule 49.01(a) provides, in pertinent part:

The court may require a jury to return only a special verdict in the form of a special written finding upon each issue of fact. * * * The court shall give to the jury such explanations and instructions concerning the matter thus submitted as may be necessary to enable the jury to make its findings upon each issue. [N]either the court nor counsel shall inform the jury of the effect of its answers on the outcome of the case.

(emphasis added).

The trial court, over State Farm's objection, advised the jury how the special verdict would ultimately affect Peterson's right to insurance proceeds. These remarks to the jury violated Rule 49. See, e.g., State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. Short, 459 N.W.2d 111 (Minn.1990); McCourtie v. United States Steel Corp., 253 Minn. 501, 515-18, 93 N.W.2d 552, 562-564 (1958). The trial court later recognized its error and, believing its statements were prejudicial, ordered a new trial.

We have reviewed the record and do not believe that the trial court's decision to order a new trial was a clear abuse of discretion. See Short. The trial court was in a better position than we are to measure the jury's reaction to its statements. ²

II.

In reviewing the summary judgment ruling there are two questions that must be decided: (1) whether an intentional act exclusion is inoperative, as a matter of law, if the insured was insane at the time he or she caused injury; and, if so, (2) whether there is a genuine issue of material fact on the sanity of the insured which precludes summary judgment.

The supreme court has expressly reserved consideration of the relationship between mental illness and intent for purposes of insurance coverage. American Family Mutual Insurance Co. v. Peterson, 405 N.W.2d 418, 422 (Minn.1987). In Peterson, an insured struck an individual on the head with a hammer for no apparent reason. The insurer denied coverage on the grounds that the act was intentional. Evidence submitted at trial indicated that at the time of the assault, the insured was intoxicated and in a blackout stage, lacking the mental capacity to intend to cause injury. The jury returned a verdict finding that the insured's state of intoxication negated intent.

On appeal, the supreme court ruled that voluntary intoxication cannot, as a matter of law, negate intent for purposes of insurance coverage, reasoning that an insured should not expect to be protected by insurance when committing an assault while voluntarily intoxicated. The court expressly declined to consider whether this same ruling results when mental capacity is affected by mental illness, an involuntary condition.

Outside Minnesota, there are two lines of authority on the issue of whether insanity negates intent for purposes of insurance coverage. Most courts hold that if an injury results from an insane act, the intentional act exclusion does not apply and the insurer is liable. See Globe American Casualty Co. v. Lyons, 131 Ariz. 337, 339-40, 641 P.2d 251, 253-54 (Ariz.Ct.App.1981); Clemmer v. Hartford Insurance Co., 22 Cal.3d 865, 887, 587 P.2d 1098, 1110, 151 Cal.Rptr. 285, 297 (1978); Congregation of Rodef Sholom of Marin v. American Motorists Insurance Co., 91 Cal.App.3d 690, 695-97, 154 Cal.Rptr. 348, 351-52 (Cal.Ct.App.1979); Mangus v. Western Casualty and Surety Co., 41 Colo.App. 217, 219-20, 585 P.2d 304, 306 (Colo.Ct.App.1978); Arkwright-Boston Manufacturers Mutual Insurance Co. v. Dunkel, 363 So.2d 190, 193 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1978); Aetna...