Court Opinion

ID: 9626252
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 08:06:34.211339+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:06:24.458788
License: Public Domain

HOLOHAN, Chief Justice,
dissenting.
The homeowner’s policy of the insured Berray contained the following:
*365We do not cover direct or indirect loss from:
6. The result of intentional acts of an insured.
Finding the language subject to more than one interpretation, the Court of Appeals held that there was coverage when the insured acted in self-defense. Court of Appeals, 143 Ariz. at 433, 694 P.2d at 263. The majority in this court chose to decide the case on the basis of the reasoning in Transamerica Insurance Group v. Meere, 143 Ariz. 351, 694 P.2d 181 (1984).
The majority conclude that the policy definition of accident or occurrence as “a sudden event ... resulting in bodily injury ... neither expected nor intended by the insured” when read in conjunction with the exclusion clause has the same effect as the provision in Meere, 143 Ariz. at 355, 694 P.2d at 185. This verbal circumlocution which uses the general to negate the specific, at least, makes interesting reading.
The attempts by the insurer to use simple, understandable language in the policy exclusion at issue has fallen victim to judicial construction.
For the reasons stated in Meere I also dissent in this case.