Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance Company v. Wayne Buckner, et al.

Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance Company (“the insurance company”) brought an action for declaratory judgment against Wayne Buckner (“the policyholder”) and others¹ seeking a determination regarding its liability and duty to defend under a homeowners’ insurance policy (“the policy”) issued to the policyholder. The insurance company’s action was prompted by lawsuits filed following an incident in which the policyholder’s two teenage sons, William Russell Buckner and Joshua Thomas Buckner (who will be collectively referred to as “Will and Josh”²), fired rifles at tractor-trailers on an interstate highway, resulting in the death of Aaron E. Hamel, the driver of a car, and severe injuries to Kimberly Bede, a passenger in another car. The lawsuits included a personal injury suit by Ms. Bede and David Hickman,³ a personal injury suit by Denise Deneau,⁴ and a wrongful death action by John Hamel and his wife, Rosemary Hamel.⁵ The plaintiffs and defendants in the underlying lawsuits will be referred to collectively as “Defendants,” their posture in this declaratory judgment action. Defendants filed counterclaims for declaratory judgment, seeking a determination that the policy provides coverage to the defendants in the underlying actions and that each of the shootings was a separate, covered occurrence. The trial court, in dismissing the insurance company’s complaint and granting judgment on the counterclaims, held, among other things, that an exclusion in the policy against injuries “reasonably expected or intended” by the insured is not implicated by the facts of the underlying suits.6 We hold that the exclusionary provision applies to bar coverage for the suits against Will Buckner and Josh Buckner. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the trial court and enter judgment in favor of the insurance company as to the suits against Will Buckner and Josh Buckner.