Watson v. Life Ins. Co. of Georgia, Civ. A. No. J84-0748(L).

• Decision Date: 16 January 1986
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. J84-0748(L).
• Citation: 626 F. Supp. 1035
• Parties: Jack WATSON and Carolyn Boyd, Plaintiffs, v. LIFE INSURANCE CO. OF GEORGIA, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Mississippi

626 F. Supp. 1035

Jack WATSON and Carolyn Boyd, Plaintiffs, v. LIFE INSURANCE CO. OF GEORGIA, Defendant.

Civ. A. No. J84-0748(L).

United States District Court, S.D. Mississippi, Jackson Division.

January 16, 1986.

Kellis L. Madison, Pearl, Miss., and Christopher A. Tabb, Brandon, Miss., for plaintiffs.

George F. Woodliff, III and Jeffrey P. Reynolds, Heidelberg, Woodliff & Franks, Jackson, Miss., for defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

TOM S. LEE, District Judge.

This cause is before the court on motion of defendant Life Insurance Company of Georgia for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Plaintiffs Jack Watson and Carolyn Boyd have not responded to defendant's motion, although their response is some six weeks overdue. The court has reviewed the plaintiffs' complaint and the discovery appearing in the record, together with defendant's memorandum with attachments, in considering the instant motion.

This is an action to collect benefits allegedly due under two life insurance policies issued by defendant to Jo Ella Watson Collier. Plaintiffs are the beneficiaries under the two policies. Collier died on August 8, 1983, as a result of gunshot wounds she received the day before. Her assailant was Dorothy Lewis, who later pled guilty to manslaughter in connection with her death. It is undisputed that Lewis was sane at the time of the crime, that she was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol and that she was not suffering from any mental disease which robbed her of the ability to perform an intentional act. It appears from the record that the source of the terrible strife between Collier and Lewis was Lewis' belief that Collier was engaging in an extra-marital affair with Mr. Lewis. Lewis fired upon Collier in public and not in self defense.

Lewis was indicted for the offense of murder on October 20, 1983 and on February 7, 1984, pled guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter. A judgment of conviction was entered in the Circuit Court of Rankin County, Mississippi on February 7, 1984, and Lewis was sentenced on February 17, 1984 to serve 20 years in the Mississippi State Penitentiary.

Defendant's instant motion seeks summary judgment on the basis of an exclusionary provision in each of the two subject policies. Policy No. 77564270, issued to Collier in 1966, states in pertinent part:

(4) Exceptions — This policy does not cover any loss resulting from ... (c) injuries intentionally inflicted upon the insured either by himself or by any person other than burglars or robbers.

(emphasis added). Policy No. 79692159, issued to Collier in 1969, states in pertinent part:

(4) Exceptions — No benefits shall be payable for death or other loss resulting from ... (c) injuries intentionally inflicted upon the insured either by himself or by any person other than burglars or robbers.

(emphasis added).

For purposes of the instant motion, the ultimate inquiry is not whether the exclusion covers the circumstances of Collier's death, as it obviously does, but whether such exclusion is legally valid under Mississippi law. It seems clear that, in the absence of such exclusionary clauses, the circumstances surrounding Collier's death would be deemed "accidental" and that the insurer would be liable for payment of benefits under Mississippi law. As the Mississippi Supreme Court stated in Occidental Life Insurance Co. of California v. Barnes, 226 Miss. 396, 84 So.2d 423, 424 (1956):

Where an insurance policy insures against accidental injury or death, and the policy does not exclude death intentionally inflicted by another, and the insured is

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