Moons v. Keith

758 N.E.2d 960, 2001 Ind. App. LEXIS 1980, 2001 WL 1468830
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 20, 2001
Docket45A03-0102-CV-53
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 758 N.E.2d 960 (Moons v. Keith) 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
Moons v. Keith, 758 N.E.2d 960, 2001 Ind. App. LEXIS 1980, 2001 WL 1468830 (Ind. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinions

OPINION

VAIDIK, Judge.

Case Summary

Sharmeika Moons and Randy Williams appeal the trial court's entry of summary judgment for State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm). They assert on appeal that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment for State Farm because their injuries arose from the operation, maintenance, or use of an uninsured automobile. Because we find that there is no causal relationship between the vehicle and the injuries sustained by Moons and Williams, we affirm.1

Facts and Procedural History

On October 30, 1997, Williams was driving a Buick Regal in Gary, Indiana. Tara-nee Lewis, Moons, and her son Quincey were all passengers in the car at the time. As he was stopped at the intersection of Fifteenth Avenue and Clark Road, Williams saw Calvin Keith turn his vehicle around and position his car in the intersection beside the Buick Regal Williams was driving. Keith rolled the window down, turned up the volume on the radio, and began firing shots from his pistol into the Buick Regal. The Buick Regal was blocked by another stopped car, and thus, Williams was unable to drive away. Keith fired seventeen shots into the car, injuring the occupants. The two cars did not come into contact during the incident.

The car Williams was driving was insured with State Farm. The policy contains an uninsured benefits provision, which reads, "[wle will pay damages for bodily injury an insured is legally entitled to collect from the owner or driver of an uninsured motor vehicle. The bodily injury must be caused by accident arising out of the operation, maintenance, or use of an uninsured motor vehicle." Appellant's App. P.T and Appeliee's App. P13. Williams and Moons sought coverage for their injuries under this policy. State Farm denied coverage because the occu[962]*962pants' injuries did not arise out of the operation, maintenance, or use of an uninsured vehicle. Williams and Moons then filed a complaint against State Farm. State Farm moved for summary judgment, asserting that Williams and his passengers being shot was not a risk reasonably contemplated when the policy was issued. After a hearing, the trial court granted the motion. Williams and Moons now appeal.

Discussion and Decision

Williams and Moons contend that the trial court erred in granting State Farm's motion for summary judgment. When reviewing the grant or denial of summary judgment, we apply the same standard as the trial court. Shelter Mutual Ins. Co. v. Barron, 615 N.E.2d 508, 505 (Ind.Ct.App.1998), trans. denied. Summary judgment will only be granted if the evidence shows that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id. Further, all evidence must be construed in favor of the party opposing the motion, and any doubt as to the existence of a material issue must be resolved against the moving party. Id.

Specifically, Moons and Williams argue that their injuries arose from the use of an uninsured vehicle driven by Keith, and therefore, the insurance policy from State Farm covers their injuries. "The interpretation and construction of insurance policy provisions is a function for the courts." State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Spotten, 610 N.E.2d 299, 300 (Ind.Ct.App.1993), trans. denied. When interpreting an insurance policy, we strive to ascertain the intent of the parties as manifested in the insurance contract. Id. We will not remove a risk from coverage if the policy can be construed to reasonably protect that risk. Id. Further, if an ambiguity exists in the contract, the contract will be construed liberally in favor of the insured. Id. An ambiguity exists if reasonable people could differ as to the meaning of the language used. Id.

In this case, Moons and Williams invite this court to adopt a broad construction of the phrase "arising out of the operation, maintenance, or use of an uninsured vehicle" in order to find coverage where the driver of an uninsured vehicle shoots and injures an insured in another vehicle. They cite cases from other jurisdictions, which have concluded that gunshot injuries resulting from a vehicle chase or altercation arose from the operation, maintenance, or use of the motor vehicle. See eg., State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Davis, 987 F.2d 1415 (9th Cir.1991) (holding that a shooting by an insured while a passenger in his vehicle was covered under an insurance policy with similar language); Quarles v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 538 So.2d 809, 812 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1988) (concluding that a "significant causal connection" existed between vehicle use and the injury sustained by a pedestrian who was shot when the vehicle owner removed a shot gun from the permanently attached gun rack on his truck and the gun discharged); Cont. W. Ins. Co. v. Klug, 415 N.W.2d 876, 878 (Minn.1987) (holding that the assailant's vehicle was an "active accessory" because the assailant used it to position himself to shoot the insured); Gen. Accident Ins. Co. of America v. Olivier, 574 A.2d 1240, 1242 (R.I.1990) (finding a sufficient nexus existed between the injury and the vehicle when a "broad" construetion of uninsured motorist coverage was employed).

Conversely, State Farm relies upon cases holding that the vehicle is nothing more than the site of the injury and the fact the assailant was in a vehicle was incidental. State Farm asserts that these cases along with the Indiana Supreme Court's construction of the phrase "arising [963]*963out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of an automobile," support a narrow construction of the phrase. See eg., Ruiz v. Farmers Ins. Co. of Arizona, 177 Ariz. 101, 865 P.2d 762, 764 (1993) (finding that contractual and statutory requirement that injury arise out of the use of the uninsured vehicle was not met by showing that injury arose while "using" an uninsured car not as a car, but as a gun platform); State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Rosenberg, 319 Ill.App.3d 744, 253 Ill.Dec. 793, 746 N.E.2d 35, 40 (2001) (holding that injuries sustained by insured who was kidnapped during theft of her vehicle, shot in car by uninsured assailant while he was driving the stolen car, and then pushed her out of moving car were not covered because injuries did not arise out of -the operation or use of the vehicle and the instrumentality of injury was the gun); Curtis v. Birch, 114 Ill.App.3d 127, 69 Ill.Dec. 873, 448 N.E.2d 591, 595 (1983) (affirming dismissal of complaint filed on behalf of insured killed by shots of driver of uninsured vehicle because instrumentality of injuries was a handgun and fact that assailant was in the car at the time was "merely incidental"); Coleman v. Sanford, 521 So.2d 876 (Miss.1988) (holding that the voluntary and deliberate act of shooting the driver of another vehicle was an independent act which rendered a vehicle's use incidental); State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v.

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758 N.E.2d 960, 2001 Ind. App. LEXIS 1980, 2001 WL 1468830, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moons-v-keith-indctapp-2001.