Grant v. North River Insurance

453 F. Supp. 1361, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16324
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedJuly 27, 1978
DocketCiv. F 76-86
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 453 F. Supp. 1361 (Grant v. North River Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Grant v. North River Insurance, 453 F. Supp. 1361, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16324 (N.D. Ind. 1978).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND DECLARATORY JUDGMENT

ESCHBACH, Chief Judge.

This declaratory judgment action is brought by the plaintiffs, the City of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and several of its individual police officers, to obtain a judicial determination of their rights under certain liability insurance policies provided by defendants, North River Insurance Company, American Home Assurance Company, and Maryland Casualty Company. Jurisdiction over the action exists by virtue of the parties’ diverse citizenship and the amount in controversy. 28 U.S.C. § 1332. The action was tried to the court, without the intervention of a jury, on June 29, 1978. Based upon the policies at issue and the evidence presented at the trial of this cause, the court will, for the reasons hereinafter stated, enter a declaratory judgment order setting forth the rights and obligations of the parties in this action under the insurance policies now at issue. The following constitutes the court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Rule 52, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

On June 14, 1975, the defendant North River issued a general liability insurance policy to the named insured “City of Fort Wayne, Indiana, including all Departments, Councils, Boards, and/or Commissions, excluding Board of Aviation and Public Transportation Corporation.” By this policy, North River agreed to “pay on behalf of the insured all sums which the insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages because of bodily injury or property damage to which this insurance applies, caused by an occurrence . . . .”

On April 1,1975, the defendant American Home issued a police professional liability insurance policy to the named insured “Fort Wayne Police Department.” By this policy, including the amendatory endorsement thereto, American Home agreed to “pay on behalf of the insured all sums which the insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages because of, but not limited to, negligent acts, errors, or omissions of the paid employees of the law enforcement agency named in the declarations as follows: personal injury, bodily injury, [and] property damage to which this policy applies . .

On March 1, 1975, the defendant Maryland Casualty issued an excess, or umbrella, liability insurance policy to the named insured “City of Fort Wayne.” By this poli *1364 cy, Maryland Casualty agreed to “indemnify the Insured for ultimate net loss in excess of the retained limit which the Insured by reason of liability imposed upon the Insured by law or assumed by the Insured under any contract or agreement, shall become legally obligated to pay as damages because of personal injury liability or property damage liability ... to which this policy applies, caused by an occurrence.”

On March 4, 1976, during the coverage period of each of the aforementioned insurance policies, the individual plaintiff police officers were involved in an incident which led to the filing of several civil damage actions against them and the plaintiff city. See Woodward v. Grant, No. F 76-74 (N.D. Ind., filed July 29, 1976); Higginbotham v. Grant, No. S-77-544 (Allen Sup.Ct., Fort Wayne, Indiana, filed March 23, 1977); Mason v. Grant, No. S-78-478 (Allen Sup.Ct., Fort Wayne, Indiana filed March 3, 1978). While these actions are not directly involved in the instant cause, they do serve to focus the “coverage” questions which are now at issue. Thus, the court will provide a brief review of the factual and legal allegations supporting the three civil damage actions.

On the morning of March 4, 1976, Ronald A. Woodward and David L. Mason were passengers in an automobile driven by Joseph S. Higginbotham. They were proceeding south on Broadway Avenue on the west side of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Unknown to them, a bank robbery had just occurred in a different section of the city. Police officers Grant, Dennis, Jenkins, and Jackson, aware that a bank robbery had occurred, pursued the Higginbotham automobile, apparently believing it contained the bank robbers. The officers stopped the Higginbotham vehicle by positioning one of their automobiles in front and one to the rear of the Higginbotham vehicle. The officers exited their vehicles and approached the suspects’ vehicle. It is not clear what next transpired, but shots were fired by the police officers who had by now been joined by Officers Crawford and O’Leary. The result of the incident was that Joseph Higginbotham was killed; David L. Mason and Ronald A. Woodward were both seriously wounded and allegedly were permanently disabled.

In the federal court action, Woodward v. Grant, supra, Ronald A. Woodward and David L. Mason seek damages for the injuries they suffered. They have sued the individual police officers under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violation of civil rights protected by the fourth and fourteenth amendments, i. e., the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and the right not to be deprived of life or liberty without due process of law. They also sue the police officers on state law tort theories of negligence and intentional harm. The Woodward plaintiffs sue the city under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 on a direct liability theory for having established an official policy or custom which caused or contributed to their injuries. They also sue the city under state law on a vicarious liability theory of respondeat superior, i. e., the Woodward plaintiffs contend the city is liable under state law for both the intentional and negligent tortious acts committed by the police officers, as those acts are prohibited by state law, while acting within the scope of their official duties. The plaintiffs in Woodward seek compensatory and punitive damages from all defendants in that action.

In the state court action Higginbotham v. Grant, supra, Joseph S. Higginbotham’s parents sue as representatives of their son’s estate and on their own behalf for the loss of their son’s services, society, and comfort. They allege claims similar to those in the Woodward v. Grant suit. In the state court action Mason v. Grant, supra, David L. Mason’s mother sues on her own behalf for the loss of her son’s services, society, and comfort.

Essentially, the plaintiffs herein contend, and seek a judicial determination to the effect that the liability insurance policies issued by the defendants herein provide full *1365 coverage, to the extent of the policy limits, to each of them as to any damages which might be recovered as a result of the 1976 incident. Each of the defendants, to a varying degree, denies that full coverage is afforded to these plaintiffs. The issues, then, concern the extent of coverage provided and the persons to whom that coverage extends under each of the policies. In determining these issues, the court will first consider those issues unique to each individual policy and then will consider the two issues common to all three policies,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
453 F. Supp. 1361, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16324, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grant-v-north-river-insurance-innd-1978.