Keckler v. Meridian Security Insurance Co.

967 N.E.2d 18, 2012 WL 1409265, 2012 Ind. App. LEXIS 196
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 24, 2012
Docket43A03-1112-PL-551
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 967 N.E.2d 18 (Keckler v. Meridian Security Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Keckler v. Meridian Security Insurance Co., 967 N.E.2d 18, 2012 WL 1409265, 2012 Ind. App. LEXIS 196 (Ind. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION

BARNES, Judge.

Case Summary

Shawn Keckler, Kari Felda (as Special Administrator to the Estate of Ryan Holloway), Janice Norman and De Wayne Scott (as the mother and father of Bryant Scott), Timothy and Sara Boganwright, and Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance Company ("Farm Bureau") (collectively, "the Appellants") appeal the trial court's entry of summary judgment in favor of Meridian Security Insurance Company ("Meridian") in Meridian's declaratory judgment action. We reverse and remand.

Issue

The Appellants raise five issues, which we combine and restate as the following two issues:

I. whether the trial court properly concluded as a matter of law that an exclusionary clause in Meridian's umbrella insurance policy that insured Nathan Creighton at the time of a severe automobile accident caused by him precludes any and all claims by the Appellants against Meridian's policy; and
*20 II. whether public policy requires exclusion of coverage for the Appellants' claims.

Facts

Shortly after noon on June 29, 2008, Creighton was driving a car westbound on State Road 25, an undivided two-lane road in Kosciusko County, when he approached a vehicle that was stopped in the westbound lane in front of him and waiting to make a left turn southbound onto County Road 1800 West. Creighton, who was eighteen years old, had three passengers in his car: Scott, Holloway, and Keckler. Instead of stopping behind the turning vehicle, Creighton attempted to pass it on the left, crossing into the oncoming eastbound lane of State Road 25. This caused an immediate head-on collision with a pick-up truck driven by Timothy Boganwright, who was traveling eastbound on State Road 25. Scott and Holloway were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Both Keckler and Creighton sustained brain injuries and have no memory of the accident. Boganwright also was injured, but his injuries were not as severe.

Police investigating the crash seene discovered that Holloway was in possession of several bags of marijuana and that Creighton was in possession of one bag of marijuana. Police also stated in a crash report that there was a "strange odor" coming from Creighton's car and that he "also had glassy eyes and appeared very disorderly," although Creighton was unconscious when police arrived on the seene. App. p. 77. There is no evidence as to whether the "strange odor" was consistent with marijuana, either burnt or fresh. Neither Creighton nor Keckler can remember much, if anything, that occurred on the day of the accident, and nothing about the accident itself.

Police obtained a search warrant to test Creighton's blood and urine at the hospital for drugs and alcohol. The test results were negative for alcohol but positive for cannibinoids, ie., marijuana. Creighton later was charged with and pled guilty to one count of Class D felony operating a vehicle with a controlled substance in the body resulting in serious bodily injury, pursuant to Indiana Code Section 9-80-5-4(a)(2).

At the time of the accident, Creighton's primary insurer (through his father) was Progressive, with a global policy limit of $500,000. Creighton also was an insured under his father's umbrella policy issued by Meridian, with a coverage limit of $1,000,000. Keckler, Felda, Norman and Seott, and the Boganwrights each filed separate lawsuits against Creighton for personal injury or wrongful death. Farm Bureau, the Boganwrights' insurer, is pursuing subrogation against Progressive for payments it has made to the Bogan-wrights. After these lawsuits were filed, Meridian filed a separate declaratory judgment action against the Appellants asserting that it was not required to provide coverage for any injuries caused by Creighton because of the following exclusionary clause in the policy:

The coverages provided by this policy do not apply to ... "Bodily injury" or "personal injury" arising out of ... [t]he use, sale, manufacture, delivery, transfer or possession by any person of a Controlled Substance(s) as defined by the Federal Food and Drug Law at 11 USCA Sections 811 and 812. Controlled substances include but are not limited to cocaine, LSD, marijuana and all narcotic drugs. However, this exclusion does not apply to the legitimate use of prescription drugs by a person following the orders of a licensed physician. ...

*21 App. pp. 40, 42. The declaratory judgment complaint also alleged that the injuries fell under the policy's exclusionary clause for "expected or intended" injuries, Id. at 40.

Keckler filed a motion for summary judgment against Meridian, in which the other Appellants joined, and Meridian responded with a cross-motion for summary judgment. As part of its designation of evidence, Meridian submitted the deposition of a toxicologist, Dr. Daniel McCoy. Dr. McCoy reviewed Creighton's hospital test results as well as depositions given by Creighton and Keckler, which were incon-elusive on any time frame in which Creighton might have last smoked marijuana before the accident. Dr. McCoy explained that the test performed by the hospital was "generic" and did not indicate whether the cannibinoids in Creighton's system were THC, or carboxy THC, or a combination of the two. 1 App. p. 165. THC is the psychoactive ingredient in marijuans, while earboxy THC is not psychoactive but is a metabolite of THC, or "a residual nonactive drug that hangs on or keeps or it stays around for a longer period of time." Id. Carboxy THC can be detected within a person's body for days after smoking marijuana, while the psychoactive effect and detectable amount of THC peaks at about twenty to thirty minutes after usage and then declines. Also, a person who frequently smokes marijuana may have car-boxy THC in their system essentially "all the time." Id. at 168. Dr. McCoy opined that, for normal activities, the psychoactive effect of marijuana is felt for three to six hours, although testing of persons having to perform complicated tasks, such as pilots, has indicated that marijuana may af-feet the performance of such tasks for as long as twenty-four hours.

At one point, Dr. McCoy testified that the driving maneuver Creighton made in crossing into the oncoming lane of traffic was "consistent with marijuana use." Id. at 162. Upon further questioning, Dr. McCoy testified that the maneuver also was consistent with any number of other factors that could distract a driver, such as using a cell phone or eating. Dr. McCoy agreed that he did not know, based on the hospital test result, "when Mr. Creighton would have last used marijuana," and also that there could not be any testing now performed, even if a sample of Creighton's blood still existed, that could reliably determine the last time he had smoked mariJuana. Id. at 174. The following colloquy between Dr. McCoy and counsel also took place:

Q: All right. Doctor, let me ask you this: As you sit here, can you say that it's more likely than not that Mr. Creighton's actions in this wreck were caused by THC intoxication versus some other reason?
A: No I cannot.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
967 N.E.2d 18, 2012 WL 1409265, 2012 Ind. App. LEXIS 196, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/keckler-v-meridian-security-insurance-co-indctapp-2012.