CRUG Obtains Ohio Supreme Court Win
July 12, 2023–Ohio Supreme Court finds that assault and battery exclusion bars coverage despite NGBRI finding today, in Krewina v. United Specialty Ins. Co., 2023-Ohio-2343, the Supreme Court of Ohio issued a unanimous judgment that an assault and battery exclusion bars coverage for a knife attack by an assailant who was criminally adjudged not guilty by reason of insanity (NGBRI) for the attack. The decision can be found at: https://lnkd.in/gsBBmV5C Richard M. Garner was pleased to lead the appellate team for the prevailing insurer and was supported by excellent amici counsel for OII, OACTA and Western Reserve. The decision is short and simple. A civil assault occurred and the exclusion bars coverage. Importantly, at Para. 6 of the decision, the majority holds that the “subjective intent of the person who committed the assault or battery is irrelevant”. This solidifies the “subject matter” nature of the exclusion and brings stability and predictability to similarly-worded exclusions. Despite being a politically and socially diverse court, six Justices joined the majority opinion and the remaining Justice concurred in judgment. A clean sweep. On a personal note, our friend and colleague Jeff Maynard masterfully handled much of the trial court proceedings for us. This was his last active case with us. Jeff was tragically killed in a car accident in 2020.
