Opinion ID: 2085930
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Affidavit Requirement with Respect to Insurance Coverage Issues.

Text: Neither of the two defendant insurance companies which insured the Dudley and Church automobiles interposed policy coverage defenses in their answers. Affidavits were made and filed by John F. Jenswold and W. L. Jackman, counsel respectively for Farmers Insurance and Hardware Dealers, in support of their motions for leave to amend their pleadings to assert coverage defenses, and for a new trial on the coverage issue. There are two affidavits each by Jenswold and Jackman, the Church affidavit and the signed statements of Miner and Pearson were attached to one of the Jenswold affidavits. Among other things the Jenswold affidavit stated: The Church affidavit and the Miner and Pearson statements disclose that the prior statements given by Dudley and other witnesses to Farmers Insurance, testimony of parties given on adverse examination before trial, and testimony of parties and witnesses at the trial, were false. Some of these false statements and false testimony were the result of direct threats made by Dudley and others to Church, Miner, and Pearson. This information supplied to Farmers Insurance and particularly by Dudley represented a material falsification of the facts of the accident which resulted in prejudicing the defense of the action by Farmers Insurance. Such actions of Dudley constituted a breach of the insurance policy agreement which required Dudley to co-operate fully in presenting the true facts of the accident to Farmers Insurance and in the defense of the action. A summary of the facts averred in the Jackman affidavits bearing on the coverage issue is as follows: Jackman was employed as counsel by Hardware Dealers to defend its insured Church in the action. Before the trial Jackman consulted with Church and asked him if he knew of any facts regarding the activities of Dunlavy, Dudley, or the other occupants of the Dudley car. Church then stated that all he knew was that he saw two boys get out of the Dudley car on the right side and did not know where they went. Jackman also had Church read over a prior written statement Church had given to an investigator and confirmed it was true, which statement was already part of the record of the trial. Church also had given testimony on an adverse examination, a copy of which was annexed to the affidavit and had given a statement to the sheriff's department on December 4, 1960, copy of which was also annexed to the affidavit. Jackman relied upon the truthfulness of such statements and testimony. At no time prior to judgment did Church or any of the other witnesses disclose that Dudley, or the occupants of his car, threatened violence or committed acts of violence just before the accident; that Dudley had stopped his car in order to stop Church; or any of the other acts or threats described in the Church affidavit attached to the motion papers of Farmers Insurance. The insurance policy issued by Hardware Dealers, which contained the usual co-operation clause, was quoted verbatim. On the basis of the facts stated in the Jenswold and Jackman affidavits a good showing was made that Dudley and Church had breached the co-operation provisions of the policies of insurance covering the cars operated by them at the time of the accident, and that such breach was prejudicial to the two insurance companies. We are of the opinion that this showing made by the Jenswold and Jackman affidavits, together with the Church affidavit, meets the five requirements which must be met before ordering a new trial for newly discovered evidence: (1) The new evidence was not discovered until after trial; (2) the party moving for a new trial must not have been negligent in seeking to discover such new evidence; (3) the new evidence must be material to the issue; (4) the new evidence must not be merely cumulative to testimony introduced at the trial; and (5) the new evidence must be such that it will be reasonably probable that a different result would be reached on a new trial. Estate of Teasdale (1953), 264 Wis. 1, 4, 58 N. W. (2d) 404. With respect to the second listed requirement, it was not necessary under the facts of this case that the affidavits aver in behalf of the two insurance companies that there was no negligence on their part in not discovering the new evidence before trial. The other facts established by the affidavits tend to negative any negligence, and none of the counteraffidavits in behalf of plaintiff Dunlavy show any lack of due diligence on the part of the two insurance companies, their attorneys, or agents. We, therefore, conclude that there was no error nor abuse of discretion in permitting Farmers Insurance and Hardware Dealers to amend their pleadings so as to assert policy defenses and in granting a new trial with respect to such issues.