Leslie v. Andrews

905 So. 2d 368, 2005 WL 1349448
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 25, 2005
Docket2004-CA-2053
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 905 So. 2d 368 (Leslie v. Andrews) 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
Leslie v. Andrews, 905 So. 2d 368, 2005 WL 1349448 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

905 So.2d 368 (2005)

Falyn Marie LESLIE
v.
William C. ANDREWS and Elise Andrews, Individually and on Behalf of their Daughter, Frances Andrews, and Frances Andrews, Major and ABC Insurance Company.

No. 2004-CA-2053.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

May 25, 2005.
Writ Denied May 5, 2005.

*369 Richard A. Tonry, Michael C. Ginart, Jr., Kim C. Jones, Richard A. Tonry, II, Cullen A. Tonry, Law Offices of Tonry & Ginart, Chalmette, LA, for Plaintiff/Appellant, Falyn Marie Leslie.

John W. Waters, Jr., Robin C. O'Bannon, Bienvenu, Foster, Ryan & O'Bannon, New Orleans, LA, for Defendant/Appellee, Audubon Insurance Company.

(Court Composed of Judge TERRI F. LOVE, Judge MAX N. TOBIAS, JR., and Judge LEON A. CANNIZZARO, JR.).

MAX N. TOBIAS, JR., Judge.

This case arises from a coverage dispute between the victim of a stabbing and the insurance company that provided liability coverage to the parents of her attacker under a homeowner's policy.

On 29 September 2000, eighteen-year-old Falyn Marie Leslie ("Leslie") and a friend, Holly Bauer ("Holly"), were attending a fair at a high school in Meraux, Louisiana, when they were accosted by at least two other girls, including Frances Andrews ("Frances") and her sister. According to Leslie, Frances and a group of friends followed and taunted her at the fair, apparently trying to incite her to fight. Leslie and Holly later exited the fair and were approached by Frances and one other girl in the parking lot. The girls accosted Leslie and Holly and a fight broke out. During the fight, Frances pushed Leslie against a vehicle and stabbed her in the abdomen, lacerating her liver. Frances was subsequently charged with aggravated battery, to which she pleaded nolo contendere.

On 31 July 2001, Leslie filed suit against Frances, Frances' parents,[1] and Audubon Insurance Company ("Audubon"), the insurer providing coverage to Frances' parents through a homeowner's policy. In her petition for damages, Leslie alleges:

VI.
That in the parking lot outside the fair, Petitioner and her friend were again threatened by Frances Andrews and several others. A fight broke out between Frances Andrews['s] friend, Christina Jenkins, and Petitioner's friend, Holly Bauer.
V.
That, as Holly and Christina were fighting, suddenly and without warning, defendant FRANCES ANDREWS attacked Petitioner. When Petitioner tried to throw Defendant to the ground, FRANCES ANDREWS came up with a knife and stabbed Petitioner causing significant injury including but not limited to a piercing wou[n]d to her liver. (Emphasis in original.)

During the course of the litigation, Leslie and Holly were deposed, and both testified that Frances intentionally stabbed Leslie.

The Audubon homeowners' policy, which provided coverage to Frances' parents beginning on 1 September 2000 for "personal liability," contained an exclusion from coverage for damages caused by intentional acts. The exact language in the exclusion is at issue, insofar as there are two possible exclusions contained in the policy. The original exclusion in the policy reads as follows:

Coverage E — Personal Liability and Coverage F — Medical Payments to *370 Others do not apply to "bodily injury" or "property damage":
a. Which is expected or intended by the "insured".... (Emphasis in original.)

However, there is an endorsement to the policy ("the endorsement") that reads:

Under coverage E-Personal Liability and Coverage F-Medical Payments to Others, item a. is deleted and replaced by the following:
a. which is expected or intended by one or more "insureds."

Leslie contends that it is unclear whether the original exclusion or the endorsement applies to her claims, insofar as the declarations page submitted by Audubon contained an "effective" date of 13 January 2001, several months after the stabbing. Audubon maintains that the endorsement was in effect at all times during the policy period and, in particular, at the time of the stabbing.

The policy, in its "definitions" section, states that:

"Insured" means you and residents of your household who are:
a. Your relatives; or
b. Other persons under the age of 21 and in the care of any person named above.

There is no endorsement attached to the policy that modifies this definition.

Audubon filed a motion for summary judgment on 2 May 2003, asserting that it was entitled to a judgment as a matter of law because the policy issued by Audubon does not cover intentional damages inflicted by the insureds or residents of their household under the age of twenty-one. In support of its motion for summary judgment, Audubon submitted deposition testimony of Leslie and Holly, a copy of the petition for damages, the bill of information detailing the criminal charges against Frances, transcript of the sentencing hearing of Frances, and a copy of the policy. The trial court granted the motion on 26 June 2003.

On 3 July 2003, Leslie filed a motion for new trial "for reargument only" on Audubon's motion for summary judgment. The trial court granted the motion, denying the summary judgment, and found that it had not received sufficient evidence to determine whether the endorsement sought to be enforced by Audubon was in effect on 29 September 2000, in light of the confusing amended declarations page that noted an "effective" date of 13 January 2001. The court expressed no opinion as to whether revisiting that issue would change the outcome of the summary judgment, or whether the endorsement precluded coverage for Leslie's claims.

On 18 February 2004, Audubon submitted an affidavit executed by Dianne Deno ("Deno"), an underwriter for Audubon.[2] She averred that the policy (including the endorsement) was issued to Frances' parents effective 1 September 2000 and that no other policy, amended or otherwise, was issued to Frances' parents. She also averred that the policy was not cancelled during the policy period, but that the policy only remained in effect until 31 March 2001. The statement is incorrect, because the policy was cancelled on 31 March 2001 for non-payment of the premium.

Audubon filed a second motion for summary judgment on 10 May 2004, on the identical grounds as the first motion for summary judgment. Attached to the motion was a second affidavit executed by Deno, which echoed the first, but with some alterations and additions. In this affidavit, Deno stated that the policy in *371 question was issued to Frances' parents and became effective on 1 September 2000; that the policy would have remained in effect for one year, or until 1 September 2001, but for the cancellation of the policy on 31 March 2001 for non-payment of premium; that no other policy was issued to Frances' parents (or Frances) by Audubon; that the endorsement was in effect on 29 September 2000; and that the amendment to the declaration page[s] which became effective on 13 January 2001 reflected a correction as to the mortgagee, addition of a second mortgagee to the declarations page, and an increase in the limits of liability under the "coverage" portion of the policy. However, the declarations page(s) attached to this motion for summary judgment were identical to those submitted in support of the first, ultimately unsuccessful, motion for summary judgment.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
905 So. 2d 368, 2005 WL 1349448, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leslie-v-andrews-lactapp-2005.