Case Name: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY v. Perry McGEE, Robert Jacob McGee, A Minor, By and Through His Father and Natural Guardian, Harlon McGee and Harlon McGee, Individually
Court: Mississippi Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Mississippi
Decision Date: 1999-11-24
Citations: 759 So. 2d 358
Docket Number: No. 1998-CA-01245-SCT
Parties: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY v. Perry McGEE, Robert Jacob McGee, A Minor, By and Through His Father and Natural Guardian, Harlon McGee and Harlon McGee, Individually.
Judges: Waller, J., specially concurred and filed opinion joined by Banks, McRae, Mills, and Cobb, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 759
Pages: 358–362

Head Matter:
STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY v. Perry McGEE, Robert Jacob McGee, A Minor, By and Through His Father and Natural Guardian, Harlon McGee and Harlon McGee, Individually.
No. 1998-CA-01245-SCT.
Supreme Court of Mississippi.
Nov. 24, 1999.
Rehearing Denied June 8, 2000.
Waller, J., specially concurred and filed opinion joined by Banks, McRae, Mills, and Cobb, JJ.
Michael F. Myers, Jackson, Attorney for Appellant.
Calvin C. Williams, Jr., W.E. Stracener, Jr., Jackson, H. Gray Laird, III, James D. Holland, Ridgeland, Attorneys for Appel-lees.

Opinion:
McRAE, Justice,
for the Court:
¶ 1. The case presently before this Court arises out of an automobile accident which occurred on April 8, 1996, when Robert Jacob McGee ["Jacob"] was driving his stepfather's ["Casey"] vehicle. Jacob's cousin Perry McGee ["Perry"] was a passenger in the car and was injured. Perry filed suit on January 18, 1997, in Attala County Circuit Court against Harlon McGee, Jacob's natural father ("Harlon"), and Jacob alleging negligence by Jacob and imputing such to Harlon pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 63-1-25 (1996).
¶ 2. During the time at issue, Harlon had an effective insurance policy with State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company ["State Farm"] covering his 1983 Chevrolet truck, which was not involved in the accident. Pursuant to the policy, State Farm undertook the defense of both Har-lon and Jacob by filing answers on behalf of both denying liability but reserving the right to deny such coverage existed. On April 2, 1997, State Farm filed a Complaint for Declaratory Judgment in this separate action against Perry, Harlon, and Jacob, by and through his father and natural guardian, Harlon McGee, seeking a declaratory judgment that there was no coverage for the accident under its policy with Harlon.
¶ 3. State Farm filed a Motion for Summary Judgment in the declaratory action on January 8, 1998. On February 17, 1998, Perry, Jacob, and Harlon filed Defendant's Response to Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment as well as a Memorandum Brief in Opposition to State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company's Motion for Summary Judgment. In such documents, Perry, Jacob, and Har-lon argued there were genuine issues of material fact. In its March 5, 1998, Order Denying Summary Judgment, the circuit court found the policy term "same household" ambiguous. The court denied summary judgment to State Farm and further stated that, if there were no additional facts to be reported to the court, State Farm was not entitled to a declaratory judgment. State Farm filed nothing further, and the case was dismissed. Aggrieved at the court's finding, State Farm appeals to this Court.
¶ 4. Pursuant to Rule 57(a) of the M.R.C.P., "The court may refuse to render or enter a declaratory judgment where such judgment, if entered, would not terminate the uncertainty or controversy giving rise to the proceeding." Having reviewed the facts of the case and the existing law pertaining to declaratory actions, we find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion. State Farm has already reserved its rights and is defending the original case on the merits. See Clark v. City of Pascagoula, 507 So.2d 70 (Miss.1987) and Hunt v. Preferred Risk Mut. Ins. Co., 568 So.2d 253 (Miss.1990) which have been construed as precluding a third party from bringing substantive claims against an insurer in a Rule 57 action.
¶ 5. We therefore affirm the judgment of the trial court.
¶ 6. JUDGMENT IS AFFIRMED.
SULLIVAN AND PITTMAN, P JJ., BANKS AND WALLER, JJ., CONCUR. COBB, J., CONCURS IN RESULT ONLY. WALLER, J., SPECIALLY CONCURS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY BANKS, McRAE, MILLS AND COBB, JJ. PRATHER, C.J., DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY SMITH, J.
. Miss.Code Ann. § 63-1-25 (1996) allows for the imputation of negligence or wilful misconduct of a driver under seventeen years of age to the person signing the minor's application for license.