{ "id": 8547215, "name": "NATIONWIDE MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY v. ROMMIE G. KNIGHT, JR., by and through his Guardian ad Litem, ROBERT F. JOHNSON; ROMMIE G. KNIGHT, SR.; CALVIN LEE LOVE; DONNA BURTON LOVE; GERALD GLENN BURTON; and DELORES BURTON KNIGHT", "name_abbreviation": "Nationwide Mutual Insurance v. Knight ex rel. Johnson", "decision_date": "1977-09-21", "docket_number": "No. 7621SC994", "first_page": "96", "last_page": "101", "citations": [ { "type": "official", "cite": "34 N.C. App. 96" } ], "court": { "name_abbreviation": "N.C. Ct. App.", "id": 14983, "name": "North Carolina Court of Appeals" }, "jurisdiction": { "id": 5, "name_long": "North Carolina", "name": "N.C." }, "cites_to": [ { "cite": "125 S.E. 2d 277", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "year": 1962, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "286" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "257 N.C. 18", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8565335 ], "year": 1962, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "30" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/257/0018-01" ] }, { "cite": "175 S.E. 2d 299", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "year": 1970, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "301" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "9 N.C. App. 27", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C. App.", "case_ids": [ 8547676 ], "year": 1970, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "30" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc-app/9/0027-01" ] }, { "cite": "234 S.E. 2d 206", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "year": 1977, "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "33 N.C. App. 15", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C. App.", "case_ids": [ 8547627 ], "year": 1977, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc-app/33/0015-01" ] }, { "cite": "18 Ariz. App. 486", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ariz. App.", "case_ids": [ 1220964 ], "weight": 2, "year": 1973, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ariz-app/18/0486-01" ] }, { "cite": "467 F. 2d 990", "category": "reporters:federal", "reporter": "F.2d", "case_ids": [ 253064 ], "year": 1972, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/f2d/467/0990-01" ] }, { "cite": "353 F. Supp. 1191", "category": "reporters:federal", "reporter": "F. Supp.", "case_ids": [ 3561402 ], "year": 1972, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/f-supp/353/1191-01" ] }, { "cite": "273 F. 2d 500", "category": "reporters:federal", "reporter": "F.2d", "case_ids": [ 1960073 ], "year": 1960, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/f2d/273/0500-01" ] }, { "cite": "33 A.L.R. 2d 1027", "category": "reporters:specialty", "reporter": "A.L.R. 2d", "pin_cites": [ { "page": "1030" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "134 S.E. 2d 654", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "year": 1964, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "658" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "261 N.C. 285", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8572987 ], "year": 1964, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "289" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/261/0285-01" ] } ], "analysis": { "cardinality": 577, "char_count": 11563, "ocr_confidence": 0.82, "pagerank": { "raw": 8.048267047752174e-07, "percentile": 0.9738374708332417 }, "sha256": "6e7f9a10164b5d21165f1f24dc68dfcf5a4bc62bf423e387ea3a5b60f37c836c", "simhash": "1:98a22fd2dc05d132", "word_count": 1858 }, "last_updated": "2023-07-14T20:28:15.830309+00:00", "provenance": { "date_added": "2019-08-29", "source": "Harvard", "batch": "2018" }, "casebody": { "judges": [ "Judges Parker and Martin concur." ], "parties": [ "NATIONWIDE MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY v. ROMMIE G. KNIGHT, JR., by and through his Guardian ad Litem, ROBERT F. JOHNSON; ROMMIE G. KNIGHT, SR.; CALVIN LEE LOVE; DONNA BURTON LOVE; GERALD GLENN BURTON; and DELORES BURTON KNIGHT" ], "opinions": [ { "text": "ARNOLD, Judge.\nDamages are sought by defendants for property damage to their vehicle which resulted from the alleged intentional ramming by the insured vehicle. Failure of the trial court to make findings of fact with respect to plaintiff\u2019s obligation to defend the claim for property damage caused by the intentional ramming of defendant\u2019s car by plaintiff\u2019s insured was error.\nAn automobile insurer in North Carolina is liable, within the maximum coverage required by the Financial Responsibility Act, for property damage caused by an insured who intentionally drives an automobile into plaintiff\u2019s property. In Insurance Company v. Roberts, 261 N.C. 285, 289, 134 S.E. 2d 654, 658 (1964), a case where defendant deliberately drove an automobile across a sidewalk and into the victim, our Supreme Court said:\n\u201cFrom the standpoint of the aggressor, an injury intentionally inflicted upon another is certainly not an accident. However, from the point of view of the victim of an unexpected and unprovoked assault with an automobile, his damages are just as accidental as if he had been negligently struck while crossing the street.\u201d\n* * * *\n\u201c \u2018[I]t is apparently the more widely accepted view that an assault constitutes an \u201caccident\u201d, and that injuries therefrom are \u201caccidentally sustained\u201d, within the coverage of liability insurance policies.\u2019 \u201d (Quoting 33 A.L.R. 2d 1027, 1030; and citing 29A Am. Jur., Insurance \u00a7 1342.)\nUnder G.S. 20-279.15(3) coverage within the Financial Responsibility Act extends to property damage as well as to personal damages occurring to the victim of an accident. Plaintiff is therefore required to compensate defendant for any property damage arising out of the intentional ramming of defendant\u2019s automobile by plaintiff\u2019s insured.\nThe policy of automobile liability insurance involved in this case provides that Nationwide;\n\u201c[ P]ay on behalf of the Insured all sums which the Insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages because of:\n* * * *\n\u201c[B]odily injury, sickness or disease, including death resulting therefrom, hereinafter called \u2018bodily injury,\u2019 sustained by any person, arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of the owned automobile or any non-owned automobile.\u201d\nDefendants contend that the gunshot from the chasing automobile which injured the minor passenger of the fleeing automobile was an accident for which plaintiff insurance company should be liable. In support of this position that the gunshot wound resulted from an accident arising out of the \u201cownership, maintenance and use\u201d of an automobile, defendants cite authority from other jurisdictions.\nIn Fidelity and Casualty Company of New York v. Lott, 273 F. 2d 500 (Fifth Cir. 1960), an accident within coverage of the policy was found where a passenger was killed when the insured driver, while attempting to shoot a deer, rested his rifle on top of the parked automobile and fired. The muzzle of the rifle did not clear the top of the car and the bullet entered through the top of the car and downward into the plaintiff.\nDefendants also present this case as analogous to cases which have held the insurer liable for injuries sustained by projectiles being thrown from automobiles. In Home Indemnity Company v. Lively, 353 F. Supp. 1191 (WDOK 1972), for example, it was held that a pop bottle being tossed from an automobile constituted an accident arising out of the use of an automobile. See, also Wyoming Farm Bur. M. Ins. Co. v. State Farm M. Auto. Ins. Co., 467 F. 2d 990 (Tenth Cir. 1972).\nOn the other hand, plaintiff cites Vanguard Insurance Company v. Cantrell v. Allstate Insurance Company, 18 Ariz. App. 486, 503 P. 2d 962 (1973), where the insured fired a gun from his automobile and struck plaintiff inside a liquor store. The Arizona Court noted that the phrase \u201carising out of\u201d does import a concept of causation, and held that plaintiff\u2019s injuries did not arise out of the use of a vehicle.\nIn the recent case of Insurance Co. v. Walker, 33 N.C. App. 15, 234 S.E. 2d 206 (1977), this Court held that where the insured had permanently mounted a gun rack to the cab of his truck, and had frequently used the truck to transport rifles on hunting trips, the transportation of guns was one of the uses to which the truck had been put so that an accidental discharge of a gun on the rack was an accident arising out of the use of the truck. The Walker case is distinguishable from the case at bar since it did not deal with an intentional firing of a gun, and there is no evidence in the present case that the insured\u2019s vehicle was used to transport guns.\nWe reject defendant\u2019s contentions and conclude that the wound caused by gunshots fired from the insured\u2019s moving automobile does not constitute an accident arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of such automobile. In Raines v. Insurance Co., 9 N.C. App. 27, 30, 175 S.E. 2d 299, 301 (1970), this Court, in denying coverage for injuries caused by gunshots from within a parked automobile, stated:\n\u201c[T]he accidental shooting of Benjamin Raines, under the facts of this case, did not arise out of the ownership, maintenance or use of the automobile which is the vehicle insured under the defendant\u2019s policy. No causal connection between the discharge of the pistol and the \u2018ownership, maintenance or use\u2019 of the parked automobile was shown ...\u201d\nSimilarly, there is no causal relationship between the ownership, maintenance and use of the insured\u2019s moving vehicle, and the injury sustained by the minor defendant as a result of gunshots fired from that moving vehicle. Defendant\u2019s argument that \u201cbut for the use of the automobile\u201d to establish causation is too broad and is rejected.\nFinally, defendants contend that Nationwide should be liable for punitive damages since the insured automobile was intentionally driven into defendant\u2019s vehicle. Among other arguments defendants assert that plaintiff agreed in its policy to \u201cpay all sums which the Insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages. . . .\u201d However, we conclude that the inclusive language of the policy does not cover punitive damages that might be assessed against the insured.\nThe commonly accepted definition of the term \u201cdamages\u201d does not include punitive damages. In 25 C.J.S., Damages \u00a7 1, for example, there is the following definition:\n\u201cIn its legal sense the word \u2018damages\u2019 is defined as meaning the compensation which the law will award for an injury done; a compensation, recompense, or satisfaction in money for a loss or injury sustained; and the most common meaning of the term is compensation for actual injury.\u201d\nPunitive damages are not compensation for injuries sustained. In construing the damages clause of the Labor Management Relations Act, Justice Higgins, in Transportation Co. v. Brotherhood, 257 N.C. 18, 30, 125 S.E. 2d 277, 286 (1962), stated:\n\u201c[R]ecovery is authorized \u2018for the damages sustained and the cost of the suit.\u2019 Damages sustained are limited to actual damages suffered as a result of the wrong inflicted. [Citation omitted.] Punitive damages are never awarded as compensation. They are awarded above and beyond actual damages, as a punishment for the defendant\u2019s intentional wrong. They are given to the plaintiff in a proper case, not because they are due, but because of the opportunity the case affords the court to inflict punishment for conduct intentionally wrongful.\u201d\nIn summary, that part of the judgment which, in effect, excludes liability by plaintiff for property damage caused by the intentional driving of the insured vehicle into defendant\u2019s vehicle is reversed. The judgment is otherwise affirmed.\nReversed in part.\nAffirmed in part.\nJudges Parker and Martin concur.", "type": "majority", "author": "ARNOLD, Judge." } ], "attorneys": [ "J. Robert Elster and W. Thompson Comerford, Jr., for plaintiff appellee.", "H. Glenn Pettyjohn and Theodore M. Molitoris for defendant appellants." ], "corrections": "", "head_matter": "NATIONWIDE MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY v. ROMMIE G. KNIGHT, JR., by and through his Guardian ad Litem, ROBERT F. JOHNSON; ROMMIE G. KNIGHT, SR.; CALVIN LEE LOVE; DONNA BURTON LOVE; GERALD GLENN BURTON; and DELORES BURTON KNIGHT\nNo. 7621SC994\n(Filed 21 September 1977)\n1. Insurance \u00a7 79\u2014 automobile liability insurance \u2014 property damage \u2014 intentional ramming of vehicle\nAn automobile liability insurer is liable for property damage arising out of the insured\u2019s intentional ramming of another vehicle with the insured vehicle. G.S. 20-279.15(3).\n2. Insurance \u00a7 79\u2014 automobile liability insurance \u2014 gunshots from moving vehicle\nInjuries caused by gunshots fired from the insured\u2019s moving automobile did not arise out of the ownership, maintenance or use of the insured automobile, and were not covered by insured\u2019s automobile liability policy.\n3. Insurance \u00a7 79\u2014 automobile liability insurance \u2014 punitive damages\nAn automobile liability policy in which the insurer agrees to \u201cpay all sums which the Insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages\u201d does not cover punitive damages that might be assessed against the insured.\nAppeal by defendants from Collier, Judge. Judgment entered 16 September 1976 in Superior Court, FORSYTH County. Heard in the Court of Appeals 30 August 1977.\nPlaintiff insurance company filed action for declaratory judgment to determine whether it has an obligation to defend certain defendants as to claims arising out of an incident occurring on 5 January 1975.\nThe incident of 5 January involves a tragic set of facts briefly summarized as follows: At approximately 1:00 p.m., defendants Calvin Lee Love, Donna Burton Love, and Gerald Glenn Burton, allegedly acting on behalf of defendant Delores Burton Knight, attempted to take defendant Rommie Knight, Jr., approximately three years old, from the custody of his father. Failing in that attempt, four of the defendants, the Loves, Burton, and Delores Knight, all in Burton\u2019s automobile, began a high speed chase of the car being driven by Rommie Knight, Sr., and in which Rommie, Jr. was a passenger. In the course of the chase, the Burton automobile rammed the Knight automobile on two occasions, and the Knight automobile was shot at, allegedly by defendant Gerald Glenn Burton. Rommie Knight, Jr. was hit by a bullet which struck him behind the right ear and lodged behind his right eye. When the four defendants in the Burton automobile realized that Rommie Knight, Jr. had been hit, they abandoned the chase.\nOn 29 February 1975, Knight, Jr. and Knight, Sr. filed action against the four defendants who were in the Burton automobile, seeking to recover $500,000 for alleged personal injuries and damages, mental anguish, and property damage; and $25,000 as punitive damages from each of the four defendants. Plaintiff, having in effect on 5 January 1975, a policy of automobile liability insurance issued to Gerald Glenn Burton, denied coverage for personal injuries sustained by Knight, Jr., and filed this declaratory judgment action.\nAt the declaratory judgment hearing, the court made findings of fact and concluded that (1) the injuries sustained by the minor defendant Rommie Knight, Jr. did not arise out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of an automobile; (2) that plaintiff had no duty to provide a defense for the defendants Calvin Lee Love, Donna Burton Love, Gerald Glenn Burton,, and Delores Knight under the automobile insurance policy; and (3) that plaintiff had no obligation to indemnify these same defendants as to any judgment rendered against them in the action pending against them.\nDefendants Rommie G. Knight, Jr., by and through his guardian ad litem, Robert F. Johnson and Rommie G. Knight, Sr., appeal.\nJ. Robert Elster and W. Thompson Comerford, Jr., for plaintiff appellee.\nH. Glenn Pettyjohn and Theodore M. Molitoris for defendant appellants." }, "file_name": "0096-01", "first_page_order": 124, "last_page_order": 129 }