Stahl v. Northern Assurance Co. of America

716 F. Supp. 626, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7238, 1989 WL 72541
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Georgia
DecidedJune 28, 1989
DocketCiv. A. No. 88-294-3-MAC (WDO)
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 716 F. Supp. 626 (Stahl v. Northern Assurance Co. of America) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stahl v. Northern Assurance Co. of America, 716 F. Supp. 626, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7238, 1989 WL 72541 (M.D. Ga. 1989).

Opinion

ORDER

OWENS, Chief Judge.

The above-captioned matter is before the court on cross-motions for summary judgment. Having considered the pleadings and having read the various affidavits and depositions, this court now issues the following order.

Maxine Lamendola is the wife of Peter Lamendola and the mother of plaintiff Randy Stahl. Peter Lamendola is Randy Stahl’s stepfather. On or about March 2, 1985, during a violent quarrel and after firing a warning shot into the ground, Peter Lamendola shot and seriously injured plaintiff Stahl.

At the time of this incident, Peter Lam-endola was an insured under a homeowners insurance policy issued by defendant Northern Assurance Company of America (“Northern Assurance”). In Section II of that policy, under “Exclusions,” the policy provides that “Coverage E — Personal Liability and Coverage F — Medical Payments to Others do not apply to bodily injury or property damage: a. which is expected or intended by the insured....” Defendant’s Exhibit No. 1, attached to November 2, 1988, Deposition of Peter Lamendola (“November Lamendola Deposition”). At no time from March 2,1985, to the present has Peter Lamendola informed his homeowners insurance carrier of a possible claim for the injuries inflicted upon plaintiff Stahl. However, several months after the incident, Mrs. Lamendola contacted the insurance agent’s office regarding a potential claim.

Defendant’s adjuster responded to Mrs. Lamendola’s notification of a possible claim and investigated the incident. Pursuant to a meeting with Mr. Lamendola, his attorney Mr. Mike Long, and Mr. Gary Griffin, an insurance adjuster for defendant Northern Assurance, the following affidavit was developed:

On March 2, 1985 I was involved in an altercation with my stepson, Randy Stahl at my home located at 403 Willow Avenue, Warner Robins, Georgia. An argument started involving myself, Randy and my wife, Maxine Lamendola concerning a request by Randy to take his daughters out to fly a kite. Randy had been drinking and began cursing me and his mother when we told him that we were not going to let him take the children in his condition. The argument resulted in a shooting incident in which I shot Randy, fully believing that this was necessary to protect myself. This incident was not an accident.
Sworn to this 30th day of January, 1986.

Defendant’s Exhibit No. 3, attached to November Lamendola Deposition. Statements from investigating police officers and the investigative file support Mr. Lam-endola’s affidavit. See Affidavits of Malcolm Derrick and Andrew Chratian and the investigative files attached thereto. Mike Long, Mr. Lamendola’s attorney who was present during the meeting involving Mr. Lamendola and Mr. Griffin, stated in relevant part as follows:

On or about January 30, 1987, Mr. Griffin met with me and Mr. Lamendola in our office. After reviewing the facts of the shooting incident orally with Mr. Griffin, my secretary prepared an affidavit which was signed by Mr. Lamendola and notarized by me. A copy of said affidavit is attached hereto as Exhibit “A.” This affidavit correctly stated the facts as related by Mr. Lamendola to me [628]*628and Mr. Griffin. Mr. Lamendola had no reservation that he fired the gun at Mr. Randy Stahl in self-defense. Since the affidavit was a true statement of the facts as I knew them to be, I advised Mr. Lamendola to sign the affidavit after first advising him that the probable effect would be to invalidate any insurance coverage for the claim being asserted against him by Mr. Randy Stahl.

Affidavit of Michael J. Long, II2. Based upon its investigation, defendant Northern Assurance denied coverage for the shooting of plaintiff Randy Stahl. This court finds as an undisputed fact that such denial was justified. See Stein v. Massachusetts Bay Insurance Company, 172 Ga.App. 811, 324 S.E.2d 510 (1984) (provision in policy excluding coverage for bodily injury which is expected or intended by insured applies where insured knowingly shoots another, even if shooting is in self defense).

On March 13, 1986, some six weeks after the meeting involving Mr. Lamendola, Mr. Long and Mr. Griffin, a civil lawsuit was filed in the state court for Houston County, Georgia.1 See Defendant’s Exhibit No. 2 (a copy of the civil action, Case No. 16848), attached to November Lamendola Deposition. That lawsuit alleged that Mr. Lamen-dola was guilty of gross negligence and wilful and wanton misconduct, and in that suit Randy Stahl sought both compensatory and punitive damages. Defendant Northern Assurance refused to defend Mr. Lamendola based upon the earlier affidavit and the policy exclusion. In the course of a deposition taken in conjunction with that lawsuit, Pete Lamendola gave inconsistent answers to questions propounded by Mr. Guillory regarding the shooting. When asked if he (Mr. Lamendola) intended to shoot plaintiff Stahl and if he (Mr. Lamen-dola) expected the gun to discharge, Mr. Lamendola answered “no.” October 6, 1986, Deposition of Pete Lamendola (“October Lamendola Deposition”), pp. 32-33. Later, at pages 43-45, the following dio-logue ensued:

A Well, there — he was loaded there [on March 2, 1985]. I didn’t know what he was going to do. I mean if somebody is hooped up there, they are liable to do anything when they are arguing there, and waving their hands at you there, and arms there, like they are going to hit you or something.
Q Did he say he was going to hit you?
A Well, it just looked like he was going to do it there. He said that “You can’t tell me what to do, and that sort of stuff.” And he kept moving around his arms there (indicating), and I got scared.
Q After you got your gun, were you scared any more?
A Yeah. I was scared.
Q Why?
A Well, of what happened.
Q And you had a gun?
A I was scared — I don’t understand what you are saying. I was scared. Was I scared after it happened, you mean?
Q No. Were you scared when you had the gun? Were you scared of him when you had a gun in your hand?
A Yeah, I was scared.
Q Did he have a knife or something?
A No, but he had his two arms.
Q That two arms makes you afraid?
A Yeah.
Q And that’s why you shot him?
A Well, I was scared he was going to hurt me.
Q But you didn’t intend to actually shoot him, did you?
A (Pause)
Q That gun went off accidentally, didn’t it?
A I just shot him there, because I was scared he was going to hurt me.
Q Now, but the gun went off accidentally, didn’t it?
MR. LONG: Mr. Lamendola, he’s already asked you this question about three times. And, again, I’m going to instruct you to disregard it.
[629]

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Related

Colonial Oil Ind. v. Underwriters
133 F.3d 1404 (Eleventh Circuit, 1998)
Stahl v. Northern Assurance Company
894 F.2d 413 (Eleventh Circuit, 1990)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
716 F. Supp. 626, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7238, 1989 WL 72541, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stahl-v-northern-assurance-co-of-america-gamd-1989.