Court Opinion

ID: 9715249
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:58:39.812124+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:32.943223
License: Public Domain

HOFFMAN, Presiding Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent.
As the majority notes, intent may be established either by showing an actual intent to injure or by showing the nature and character of the act to be such that intent to cause harm to the other party must be inferred as a matter of law. Indiana Farmers Mut. Ins. Co. v. Graham (1989), Ind.App., 537 N.E.2d 510, 511. The record shows that, due to a number of attempted burglaries at his mother’s store, Randall went to the store with a shotgun and positioned himself near the door that had been most recently damaged. When a person or persons attempted to force open the door with a bar, Randall fired his shotgun directly at the door, striking the knee of one of the would-be burglars. In Allstate Ins. Co. v. Herman (1990), Ind., 551 N.E.2d 844, our Supreme Court held that, as a matter of law, when Heroy intentionally fired a gun into a fleeing crowd, of which the gunshot victim was a member, he was deliberately committing an act which any reasonable person would deem *1097calculated to cause injury. Id. at 846. Randall’s intent to cause injury was similarly established as a matter of law when he fired at a door knowing someone was on the other side. Considering that Randall could have fired at the ceiling or in the floor rather than directly at the door, the trial court’s conclusion that Randall intended only to scare the intruders was clearly erroneous.
Moreover, even assuming the trial court did not err in finding that Randall did not intend to cause injury, the court clearly erred in finding that he did not expect to cause injury. Expected injury means that the insured acted although he was consciously aware that the harm caused by his actions was practically certain to occur. Graham at 512. Randall was aware that someone was behind the door, and he fired his shotgun at the door. Reasonable persons would certainly expect injury to occur in such a situation. I would reverse the judgment of the trial court.