Interinsurance Exch. Of The Automobile Club v. Flores

53 Cal.Rptr.2d 18 (1996)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

An unknown pedestrian punched Sanders in the face while Sanders, the insured, sat in his van waiting for a traffic light to change. Sanders told Roger Perez of the incident. Perez suggested they return to the scene, locate the assailant and seek retribution. Perez told Sanders he was armed with a handgun before he and others got into the van. Sanders knew that someone was likely to get shot. He drove Perez and the others back to the intersection where he had been punched. D stood on the corner of the intersection. While Sanders drove by, Perez intentionally shot and injured D from the van. The van itself did not inflict any injury on D, nor was it used to block or pin down D. Sanders pled nolo contendere to the felony of aiding and abetting the shooting of D. D filed the underlying civil suit against Sanders and others for conspiracy, battery, and negligence. P reserved its rights to deny coverage and filed the instant declaratory relief action to determine whether or not it had a duty to defend or indemnify Sanders for liability in the underlying P action under the policy. The trial court found that the shooting was not an accident, that Sanders acted intentionally in aiding and abetting the shooting and that the injuries inflicted on the P family were not covered by the instant policy. D appealed.