United States Cas. Co. v. Griffis

• Decision Date: 21 November 1916
• Docket Number: No. 22851.,22851.
• Citation: 186 Ind. 126,114 N.E. 83
• Parties: UNITED STATES CASUALTY CO. v. GRIFFIS.
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

186 Ind. 126

114 N.E. 83

UNITED STATES CASUALTY CO.

v.GRIFFIS.

No. 22851.^*

Supreme Court of Indiana.

Nov. 21, 1916.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Jay County; James J. Moran, Judge.

Action by Grace Griffis against the United States Casualty Company. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant appeals. Affirmed.

Elam, Fesler, Elam & Young, of Indianapolis, Focht & Hutchens, of Winchester, and La Follette & McGriff, of Portland, for appellant. George H. Ward and Macy, Nichols, Goodrich & Bales, all of Winchester, for appellee.

MORRIS, J.

Suit by appellee against appellant on an accident policy. The first paragraph of complaint alleges that appellant insured appellee's husband, James R. Griffis, “against loss resulting directly and independently of any and all other causes from bodily injury effected solely through external, violent and accidental means”; that said James R. Griffis lost his life by such means because he ate mushrooms tainted with ptomaine poison; that the death was not contributed to by disease, either directly or indirectly. A second paragraph of complaint differed from the first, in that it alleged that the death resulted from the accidental eating or drinking of a poisonous substance the nature of which was unknown. A demurrer to each paragraph was overruled. There was a trial with verdict and judgment for appellee for $6,645. Appellant here challenges the sufficiency of each paragraph of complaint, and also the sufficiency of the evidence.

The policy expressly exempted appellant from liability for injury “resulting from or contributed to, directly or indirectly, wholly or partially, by disease.”

The evidence for appellee shows that formerly decedent Griffis was a lawyer of Randolph county; that immediately before his death he and his wife resided at Cleveland, Ohio, about four miles from the business center of the city; that on October 25, 1913, at about 7 o'clock p. m., Mr. and Mrs. Griffis left their place of residence and went to a restaurant in the business center of the city for the evening meal, where Mr. Griffis ate some mushrooms at about 8 o'clock p. m.; that thereupon they went home, arriving there at about 9 p. m.; that Mr. Griffis, about 15 minutes thereafter, went to his bedroom to prepare for retiring, while Mrs. Griffis went to the bathroom to take a bath, and where she was occupied for about 30 minutes; that she then heard water running at a sink near Mr. Griffis' bedroom and went to turn off the water; that on arriving at the sink she discovered a quantity of mushrooms that had been vomited by her husband; that she then went to Mr. Griffis' bedroom, and found him lying across his bed, dressed in his nightclothes, moaning and unconscious; that she immediately telephoned Dr. Placak, who arrived in 15 minutes and administered medical treatment without effect; that at that time Mr. Griffis' pulse was low and rapid, his finger nails and lips were blue, and his face was cold and clammy and of a greenish white color; that a half hour later, Dr. Leichty, a physician skilled in handling ptomaine poison cases, was called into consultation; that after the latter's arrival the patient vomited up some more mushrooms, was frothing at the mouth, and was unable to swallow anything; that the two physicians resorted, without success, to various remedial measures, but death ensued shortly after midnight. Mr. Griffis never regained consciousness after his wife discovered him lying across his bed. She testified that at and before the time he partook of the mushrooms Mr. Griffis was in perfect health. Dr. Leichty testified that, in his opinion, ptomaine is an organic poison substance, produced by the action of bacteria on some nitrogenous matter, and that Mr. Griffis' death was caused solely by virulent ptomaine poison which was contained in the mushrooms eaten. Medical experts called by appellant were of the opinion that organic diseases contributed to decedent's death, but the jury manifestly accepted the opinions of Dr. Leichty and other medical experts called by appellee.

It is not contended by appellant that Mr. Griffis was guilty of any negligence in partaking of the mushrooms, or that in such act he intended to eat food containing a poisonous substance. Paul v. Travelers' Ins. Co., 112 N. Y. 472, 20 N. E. 347, 3 L. R. A. 443, 8 Am. St. Rep. 758, was decided by the New York Court of Appeals 27 years ago, and has been approved quite generally by other courts. The principle there declared was similar to the one here involved. In that case one Paul was a guest at a hotel of New York City. He retired for the night and was discovered dead in his bed on the following morning. When the body was found, the air in his sleeping chamber was strongly impregnated with illuminating gas. In an action on an accident policy indemnifying the beneficiary against loss by bodily injuries “through external violent and accidental means,” the trial court held the guest's death accidental and awarded judgment to the beneficiary. The judgment was affirmed by the Court of Appeals, in an opinion holding that:

“An ‘accident’ is the happening of an event without the aid and the design of the person and which is unforeseen. *** As to the point raised by the appellant that the death was not caused by external and violent means, within the meaning of the policy, we think it a sufficient answer that the gas in the atmosphere, as an external cause, was a violent agency, in the sense that it worked upon the intestate so as to cause his death. That a death is the result of accident, or is unnatural, imports an external and violent agency as the cause.”

The case was cited with approval by this court in Ætna Life Ins. Co. v. Fitzgerald (1905) 165 Ind. 317, 321, 75 N. E. 262, 1 L. R. A. (N. S.) 422, 112 Am. St. Rep. 232, 6 Ann. Cas. 551.

Appellant vigorously assails the New York case, and those of other jurisdictions following it, and earnestly contends that, while the death may have been accidental and violent, it was not effected by accidental and violent means; that Mr. Griffis voluntarily ate the mushrooms, and the mere fact that an unexpected result followed in no wise makes the means accidental within the meaning of the language of the policy. In support of its theory, appellant, among numerous other cases, cites that of Smith v. Travelers' Ins. Co. (1914) 219 Mass. 147, 106 N. E. 607, L. R. A. 1915B, 872, where liability was denied in a case where the deceased was afflicted with nasal catarrh, and was in the habit of using a nasal...