Warren v. Pilot Life Insurance Co., 215 N.C. 402

Summary

The North Carolina Supreme Court considered an action seeking double indemnity under an accident insurance policy after the insured was shot and killed. The court addressed the burden of proof, the effect of a related criminal conviction, and the admissibility of testimony concerning the shooting. It held that certain testimony was improperly admitted and ordered a new trial because the submitted jury issue did not determine whether the death fell within the policy's coverage.

Holdings

1. Although the burden of proving death by accidental means remains on the plaintiff in an action involving insurance against accidental death, the court would not hold the challenged instructions erroneous because the instructions had been approved on the prior appeal and therefore constituted the law of the case.
2. The trial court properly excluded the record and judgment showing that Willie Tate had been convicted of murdering Warren, because the plaintiff was not bound by the criminal verdict and judgment and was not estopped from proving that Warren's death was accidental.
3. Miss Phelps's testimony that Tate was a stranger to Warren was incompetent because it stated a fact beyond her personal knowledge, and its admission was material because it supported the contention that the shooting was accidental.
4. Miss Phelps could testify that Tate pointed the pistol at her and that it was later discharged into Warren's body, but she could not testify from her own knowledge that Tate would have shot her or intended to shoot her.
5. The issue asking whether Warren's death resulted from bodily injuries intentionally inflicted by another person did not determine whether the death was covered under the policy's requirement of death from external, violent, and accidental means; an affirmative finding of policy coverage was therefore required.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the trial court improperly instructed the jury concerning the burden of proof on the issue of accidental death under the accident-insurance provision.
2. Whether evidence of Willie Tate's murder conviction and execution was admissible to establish that Warren's death resulted from intentional injuries.
3. Whether Miss Phelps was competent to testify that Tate was a stranger to Warren and that Tate would have shot her but for her raising her arm.
4. Whether the submitted jury issue established that Warren's death fell within the policy's coverage for death from external, violent, and accidental means.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded