Killing Two Dogs is an Intentional Act

Published: Oct. 24, 2022, 2 p.m.

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No Duty to Defend or Indemnify Intentional Acts or Person not Insured  

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Norma Hudson and the Hudson Revocable Trust (the Trust) appealed from a  summary judgment entered in favor of Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance  Company of Arkansas, Inc. (Farm Bureau). In the summary-judgment order,  the trial court found as a matter of law that Farm Bureau had no duty of  defense or indemnification to the appellants arising from a lawsuit  filed against the Trust by Dewayne Evans, Mark White, and Billy Taylor.  In Norma Hudson And Hudson Revocable Trust v. Farm Bureau Mutual  Insurance Company Of Arkansas, Inc., No. CV-21-396, Court of Appeals of  Arkansas, Division II (October 5, 2022) the Court of Appeal resolved the  coverage dispute.  

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FACTS 

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Benjamin Hudson (Norma\'s adult grandson) shot and killed two coon dogs  and allegedly traumatized a third on property owned by the Trust. The  dog owners sued Benjamin Hudson (Benjamin) and the Trust, raising claims  for destruction of property, negligence, and tort of outrage and  seeking compensatory and punitive damages. The allegations in the  complaint against the Trust were that Benjamin was employed to oversee  the Trust property, that he was acting in a scope of that authority, and  that his outrageous conduct was ratified by the Trust.  Norma has two insurance policies with Farm Bureau. One policy is a  homeowner\'s policy that insures the property where the shootings  occurred, and the other is a property owner\'s policy. After the dog  owners\' sued Norma and the Trust made a claim with Farm Bureau for  coverage under the insurance policies. Farm Bureau subsequently sued  seeking a declaratory judgment that it owed no duty to defend or  indemnify Benjamin, Norma, or the Trust based on exclusionary language  in the policies relating to bodily injury or property damage arising out  of intentional acts.  

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The policies provided that Farm Bureau provided that there is no  coverage for "bodily injury or property damage caused intentionally by  you or any covered person or at the direction of you or any covered  person" and that "[t]he expected or unexpected results of such acts are  not covered." (Emphasis added.)  Farm Bureau asserted that the dog owners\' complaint alleged that  Benjamin was acting as an agent of the Trust when he shot the dogs. Farm  Bureau argued that because the insurance policies expressly excluded  liability coverage for damage arising out of an intentional act, it had  no duty to defend or indemnify Norma or the Trust and that it should be  granted summary judgment.  The trial court agreed and entered an order granting Farm Bureau\'s  summary-judgment motion. Specifically, the trial court found:  Liability insurance coverage is expressly and unambiguously excluded  under both the Homeowner Policy and the Property Owners Policy for  bodily injury or property damage arising out of the intentional conduct  of an insured.  ANALYSIS  Once the moving party has established a prima facie entitlement to  summary judgment, the opposing party must meet proof with proof and  demonstrate the existence of a material issue of fact. On appellate  review, the appellate court must determine if summary judgment was  appropriate based on whether the evidentiary items presented by the  moving party in support of the motion leave a material fact unanswered.

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