Erie Insurance Exchange v. Heisey

81 Pa. D. & C.4th 18
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lebanon County
DecidedFebruary 12, 2007
Docketno. 2005-00443
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 81 Pa. D. & C.4th 18 (Erie Insurance Exchange v. Heisey) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lebanon County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Erie Insurance Exchange v. Heisey, 81 Pa. D. & C.4th 18 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2007).

Opinion

CHARLES, J.,

On February 19, 2002, Janie S. Ream tragically lost her life when Warren Heisey shot her three times in the head. The echoes of these shots are still reverberating today, as Ream’s estate is seeking to collect money under Heisey’s homeowner’s insurance policy with Erie Insurance Exchange. Predictably, Erie argues that Heisey’s murder of Ream is not an event covered under its policy.

For reasons that follow, we will declare that no coverage exists under Erie’s policy for the senseless act of violence committed by Heisey.

I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On February 26,2004, Dawn R. Ream, administratrix of the estate of Janie Ream initiated a civil action against Heisey under Pennsylvania’s wrongful death and survival acts. This complaint sought monetary damages as a result of Ream’s premature-death at the hands of Heisey. The complaint also alleged that Heisey suffered from a mental illness at the time he shot and killed Ream. According to the complaint: “Because of defendant’s mental illness, and his mental state in general, defendant’s actions were not intentional, conscious or knowing.” (¶12 of complaint.)

A copy of this complaint was mailed to Erie by Estate’s attorney. (Exhibits G, H and J to stipulation of facts.) [20]*20Erie disavowed any responsibility to defend or indemnify Heisey. (See exhibit I to stipulation of facts.) Eventually, Estate requested and received a default judgment against Heisey and we conducted a bench trial on damages, awarding a total of $226,861 by order dated November 4, 2005.

On March 31,2005, Erie filed a declaratory judgment action against Heisey and Estate, seeking a declaration that it had no duty to neither defend nor indemnify Heisey as a result of the shooting that occurred on February 19, 2002. Erie alleged that the shooting by Heisey was an intentional act for which no coverage exists under its homeowner’s insurance policy. Estate filed an answer and new matter to Erie’s declaratory judgment complaint, alleging that Heisey’s acts were not intentional because he had been suffering from a serious mental illness at the time.

Following discovery, both parties submitted motions for summary judgment. On October 18,2006, the parties submitted an extensive stipulation of facts that included police reports, psychiatric reports, court documents relative to Heisey’s criminal charges and information pertaining to Erie’s insurance policy. We conducted oral argument on the cross-motions for summary judgment on January 26, 2007 and have received briefs from both sides. The issue of whether Erie’s policy provides coverage to Heisey is now before us for disposition.

II. FACTUAL SUMMARY

The factual basis for the parties’ motions for summary judgment is contained exclusively within the joint stipu[21]*21lation of facts submitted to this court. A significant percentage of that stipulation presents information regarding the criminal investigation and prosecution of Heisey. Based upon the stipulation, we will summarize the facts surrounding the February 19, 2002 incident.

Prior to February 19, 2002, Ream was involved in a romantic relationship with Heisey. (¶12 of stipulation.) According to one of Ream’s best friends, Ream decided to “kick Warren out” of her residence and communicated this to him at some point during the day of February 19, 2002. (See exhibit K.) At about 7:30 p.m. on February 19, Ream contacted the Pennsylvania State Police via the 911 emergency line. She was speaking in a “frantic voice” and stated that her “ex-boyfriend” was outside her home. She pleaded with police to “hurry” and stated “he’s nuts.” Heisey entered the home, but Ream did not terminate her telephone conversation with the police dispatcher. Upon review of the 911 tape, police heard Ream’s voice state “He’s got a gun,” “No. Warren. What’s the matter with you?” and “Come on, Warren.” Also depicted on the 911 tape was a male voice saying “Out the door. The car’s up the street. Now get going ... no arguing.” The dispatcher described Ream’s voice as “becoming more frantic” and described sounds that were perceived as accompanying a struggle. Three gunshots were then heard on the 911 tape. (Exhibit G to the stipulation.)

When police arrived, they observed Heisey entering his vehicle. The vehicle sped away from the scene. Police pursued the vehicle. Ultimately, the vehicle stopped after striking the front end of a Pennsylvania State Police patrol car. Heisey was then apprehended. Located inside his vehicle was a .22 caliber revolver and ammu[22]*22nition. (All information on this paragraph is contained in the affidavit of probable cause attached as exhibit I to the stipulation and in the transcript of the 911 call that was attached as exhibit G to the stipulation.)

According to the autopsy report, Ream died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds. All three wounds were located in Ream’s head. Any one of the wounds would have been fatal. (See exhibit N to stipulation.)

As a result of this incident, Heisey was charged with numerous crimes, the most serious of which was criminal homicide. (Exhibit O to stipulation.) The criminal complaint charged that Heisey “intentionally, knowingly, recklessly or negligently caused the death of Janie Ream by shooting Ream in the head with a .22 caliber revolver in the kitchen of Ream’s residence.” (Exhibit O to stipulation.) Attorney Jerry Russo was hired to represent Heisey. He proffered an insanity defense.

On January 22,2003, Dr. Abraham Hostetter met with Heisey for the puipose of evaluating his mental capacity on the date of the shooting. (Exhibit Q to stipulation.) As a result of Dr. Hostetter’s initial report, the district attorney and Heisey’s lawyer stipulated that Heisey should be transferred to a secure forensic psychiatric unit for more testing and treatment. (Exhibit P to stipulation.) On November 20, 2002, Dr. Mangala Khadilkar of the Norristown State Hospital issued a report that diagnosed Heisey as having bipolar disorder with psychosis. The treatment team at Norristown considered Heisey competent to proceed with his trial. (Exhibit R to stipulation.) Shortly after the Norristown State Hospital report, Dr. Hostetter supplemented his initial opinion by a letter [23]*23dated January 27, 2003. Dr. Hostetter concluded that Heisey’s psychiatric condition was a “dementing process.” However, Dr. Hostetter stopped short of rendering an opinion declaring Heisey to, be legally insane. (Exhibit S to stipulation.)

On April 4, 2003, Heisey entered a plea of guilty but mentally ill to third-degree murder, burglary, four counts of aggravated assault, four counts of recklessly endangering another person and fleeing and eluding a police officer. The court accepted this plea, concluding that Heisey “understood the nature and consequences of his act when he committed it.” (Exhibit T to stipulation.) Heisey was sentenced to an aggrpgate indeterminate sentence of incarceration, the minimum of which was 21 1/2 years and the maximum of which was 50 years. (Exhibit T.) At all times pertinent to the civil litigation now before us, Heisey has resided in either a secure psychiatric facility or prison.

III. CONTENTIONS OF THE PARTIES

A. Erie’s Arguments

Erie has submitted three.primary arguments. Because one of these arguments is not pertinent to our decision,1

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Bluebook (online)
81 Pa. D. & C.4th 18, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/erie-insurance-exchange-v-heisey-pactcompllebano-2007.