Opinion ID: 153116
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Facts & District Court Decision

Text: Farmers Alliance and Ms. Byus have stipulated to the facts of this dispute. Ms. Salazar owned a home in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Farmers Alliance sold Ms. Salazar 1 Ms. Byus has filed a wrongful death action in Oklahoma State District Court against Ms. Salazar and Manuel Corrales. 2 and Margarito Salazar a homeowner's insurance policy for the one-year period beginning August 31, 1990, and ending August 31, 1991. Ms. Salazar's son, Manuel Corrales, was sixteen years old in 1991 and lived with Ms. Salazar in her home. Manuel Corrales belonged to a youth street gang known for carrying guns and as early as the summer of 1990 owned a revolver, though it is not clear from whom or where he got it. Manuel kept the revolver in his mother's home and sometimes fired the gun at cans in Ms. Salazar's back yard. Ms. Salazar knew her son had the revolver, knew he often carried it on his person, and knew he had a tendency to threaten people with the gun. A friend of Manuel Corrales testified in a deposition that Ms. Salazar never tried to take the revolver away from Manuel and generally made no effort to exercise control over his use of the gun. Two days before Thomas Byus's murder, Ms. Salazar gave her other son, Hector, a silvercolored automatic pistol. In Ms. Salazar's presence, Manuel said to his younger brother, Give it to me, and took the automatic from Hector. This transaction took place in Ms. Salazar's home. The next day, having taken his brother's new automatic pistol, Manuel Corrales gave his revolver to his friend Jacob De LaCruz while the two boys were standing in front of Ms. Salazar's home. At this time, neither Manuel nor Jacob had any intention of murdering Thomas Byus. On the evening of August 4, 1991, Manuel Corrales and Jacob De LaCruz went out with some friends in a car. Jacob had the revolver Manuel had given him, and Manuel had the automatic he had taken from his brother. Another youth was driving the car. After the group left an 3 establishment where they had gone to play pool, Manuel Corrales instigated a dispute with some youths in another vehicle by giving a gang signal with his hand. The ensuing argument escalated until Thomas Byus, the driver of the other vehicle, suggested the occupants of the two vehicles resolve the dispute by getting out of their cars and fighting. Manuel Corrales and Jacob De LaCruz chose instead to use their guns. Each boy fired at least one shot from their vehicle into Thomas Byus's vehicle. A bullet from the revolver fired by Jacob De LaCruz struck Thomas Byus in the head and killed him. A bullet fired by Manuel Corrales narrowly missed one of Byus's companions. Upon his plea of guilty, Manuel Corrales was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Jacob De LaCruz, after trial by jury, was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Farmers Alliance and Ms. Byus have stipulated for the purposes of this case that Ms. Salazar was negligent in her supervision of Manuel Corrales in permitting him to possess the revolver and the silver-colored automatic pistol. The parties also have stipulated that Manuel Corrales was negligent in giving the revolver to Jacob De LaCruz. The policy Ms. Salazar purchased from Farmers Alliance provided in relevant part: The Company will pay on behalf of the Insured all sums which the Insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages because of

to which this insurance applies, caused by an occurrence and arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of the insured premises and all operations necessary or incidental thereto, and the company shall have the right and duty to defend any suit 4 against the Insured seeking damages on account of such bodily injury or property damage .... According to the policy's definitions section, Occurrence means an accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to conditions, which results in bodily injury or property damage neither expected nor intended from the standpoint of the insured. The parties agree that Ms. Salazar and Manuel Corrales were insureds under the policy. The district court found Farmers Alliance had no obligation to indemnify or defend Manuel Corrales with respect to liability he might incur for his participation in Thomas Byus's murder. Finding Manuel both intended and expected Thomas Byus's bodily injury, the district court concluded there was no occurrence as the term is defined by the policy. The court then reasoned that because, in its view, occurrence is defined from the standpoint of the insured, Thomas Byus's murder was an occurrence with respect to Ms. Corrales because she neither intended nor expected the shooting. The district court concluded Farmers Alliance was obligated to defend and indemnify Ms. Corrales because her negligent supervision of Manuel, which lead to Thomas Byus's death, occurred at her home. Therefore, Byus's injury arose out of the ownership, maintenance or use of the insured premises.