Belsom v. Bravo

658 So. 2d 1304, 1995 WL 237476
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 25, 1995
Docket94-CA-876
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 658 So. 2d 1304 (Belsom v. Bravo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Belsom v. Bravo, 658 So. 2d 1304, 1995 WL 237476 (La. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

658 So.2d 1304 (1995)

Emily Michelle BELSOM
v.
Steven BRAVO and ABC Insurance Company.

No. 94-CA-876.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

April 25, 1995.
Writ Denied September 1, 1995.

Terrence C. Forstall, Robert P. Kemp, Courtenay, Forstall, Guilbault, Hunter & Fontana, New Orleans, for plaintiff-appellant.

W. Marvin Hall, Hailey, McNamara, Hall, Larmann & Papale, Metairie, for defendant-appellee.

Before BOWES, GRISBAUM and GOTHARD, JJ.

*1305 GRISBAUM, Judge.

Plaintiff-appellant appeals the granting of State Farm Fire & Casualty Company's (State Farm) motion for summary judgment, which was granted on the basis defendant-appellee's homeowner's insurance policy, provided by State Farm, did not provide coverage for intentional harm and, therefore, did not cover appellee's acts of sexual assault against appellant. We affirm.

ISSUES

In order to determine whether the trial court erred in granting the motion for summary judgment, we must necessarily address two specific questions:

(1) Whether, in a civil suit for damages for sexual assault against a defendant's homeowner's insurance policy, the standard for determining "intent" for purposes of excluding coverage under an intentional harm exclusion is subjective or inferred, and

(2) If inferred, whether the resulting harm is also considered intentional as a matter of law.

FACTS

Seventeen-year-old Emily Belsom, plaintiff-appellant, had just finished a school exam earlier in the day on October 17, 1991 and spent the rest of the day celebrating with her friends. Later that night, around ten or eleven o'clock, she and her cousin, Michael Monahan, and her friend, Mike Moran, went to Friar Tuck's, a local bar, where Emily met up with a bunch of her school friends. At the bar, Emily saw defendant-appellee, Steven Bravo, with whom she was acquainted because he had dated two of her friends. Throughout the night, she had occasion to speak with Steven, who was steadily drinking and appeared drunk. As Emily and her two companions were leaving Friar Tuck's around midnight, she talked to Steven again who asked if he and his two friends could come over. Emily did not answer and she left the bar.

Emily was dropped off at her home on Beverly Garden Drive. Her parents were out of town for the week, and Emily's brother's friend, Billy Lahners, was staying at the house. However, Billy was not home at the time Emily was dropped off. Shortly after Emily arrived home, Steven called and asked if he and his two friends could come over. Emily said yes and the three came over. They proceeded to sit on the couch and watch television, and, after about 30-45 minutes, Emily asked them to leave, which they did.

Three minutes later, Steven knocked on the door and asked to use the telephone. Emily let Steven in, and they ended up talking on the couch because Steven claimed he needed to talk. Steven tried to kiss Emily, but she pushed him away. Emily offered to bring Steven home, but when she went to grab her purse, Steven grabbed Emily and the next thing she knew she was "on the ground facing up." He then picked her up and carried her to her parent's bedroom where he undressed her and made her give him oral sex. After the incident, Steven insisted they sleep in the bed. In the morning, Steven tried to get Emily to manually masturbate him with her hand but she managed to get out of it. She then drove him home.

On October 14, 1992, Emily filed a civil suit against Steven and his parents' homeowner's insurance company, State Farm, for damages caused by the sexual assault. State Farm filed a motion for summary judgment on February 22, 1994 claiming the insurance policy excludes bodily injury which is intentionally caused by an insured. A hearing on the motion was held July 8, 1994, and the trial court rendered judgment on July 13, 1994, granting State Farm's motion for summary judgment. Appellant appeals this judgment on the basis there is a material issue of fact as to whether appellee, Steven, intended to harm appellant or even whether he had the requisite mental capacity to form such intent.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

In reviewing the granting of a motion for summary judgment, we must consider the *1306 evidence de novo using the same criteria required by trial courts by La.Code Civ.P. art. 966, which requires there be no genuine issue of material fact and the mover be entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

Moreover, a summary judgment is usually inappropriate where a subjective fact, such as intent, is involved. Toups v. Hawkins, 518 So.2d 1077 (La.App. 5th Cir.1987).

ISSUES ONE AND TWO

Law and Analysis

Typically, intentional injury exclusions do not exclude coverage for all injuries resulting from an intentional act but, rather, only for those injuries which the insured intended. Therefore, the subjective intent of the insured is usually the test for determining whether an act is intentional. An act is considered intentional if the insured desired the results of his action or believed certain results were substantially certain to occur. Yount v. Maisano, 627 So.2d 148 (La.1993).

Here, appellee's homeowner's insurance policy states personal liability coverage and medical payments coverage do not apply as follows: "1. Coverage L and Coverage M do not apply to: a. bodily injury or property damage: (1) which is either expected or intended by an insured; or (2) to any person or property which is the result of willful and malicious acts of an insured...." (Emphasis as found in the original.) The preliminary question before us is whether "intent" in the realm of this exclusionary provision refers to the subjective intent of the insured or whether there is a legal inference of intent.

We see that our brothers of the First Circuit, in Doe v. Smith, 573 So.2d 238 (La. App. 1st Cir.1990), writ denied, 573 So.2d 1139 (La.1991), a case involving child molestation, found "child molestation is one such rare instance where a factual determination of negligence or intentional conduct is inappropriate as a practical matter. These types of acts cannot result from careless conduct and only occur as a result of a deliberate act by the perpetrator." Id. at 243 (emphasis as found in the original). Thereafter, our brothers of the Fourth Circuit, in Shaw v. Bourn, 615 So.2d 466 (La.App. 4th Cir.1993), writ denied, 618 So.2d 409, 412 (La.1993), adopted this rationale. Thus, Louisiana jurisprudence recognizes as a matter of law that the act of child molestation is of itself a deliberate and intentional act. This principle of inferred intent was extended somewhat in a sexual molestation case involving a 29-year-old mentally handicapped female who had the mental age of a six-year-old. See Doe v. State, Dept. of Health & Human Resources, 623 So.2d 72 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1993), writ denied, 627 So.2d 653 (La.1993).

Now, we are faced with the question of whether we can extend the legal inference of intent (in child molestation cases) to a sexual assault matter involving young adults, ages 17 and 18. Sexual assault is a crime regardless of whether the victim is a child or an adult. An adult is no less likely than a child to suffer serious physical, emotional and psychological harm as a result of a sexual assault. Furthermore, we agree with the reasoning of the Minnesota Court of Appeals which stated "in inferring an intent to injure from an intentional act, the age or vulnerability of the person assaulted is not the determinative factor.

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Bluebook (online)
658 So. 2d 1304, 1995 WL 237476, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/belsom-v-bravo-lactapp-1995.