Sheely v. Sheely, 2012 Ohio 43

Ivy Sheely died May 13, 2007 after consuming vodka purchased by Dan Sheely.
Tabatha Sheely, as Ivy’s administrator, sued Dan and Grieshop for wrongful death/survivorship; consent judgment against Dan for $300,000.
Lightning Rod Mutual Insurance covered Dan’s homeowner policy; insurer sought declaratory judgment and denied coverage.
Policy terms exclude coverage for intentional acts and for injuries within a resident-insured household unless an occurrence/accident occurs.
Trial court granted Lightning Rod summary judgment finding no occurrence and applying the resident/intent exclusions; Tabatha appealed.
Court affirmed, holding Ivy’s death was not an “occurrence” under the policy and the inferred-intent doctrine did not mandate coverage.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Ivy’s death qualifies as an occurrence under the policy.	Tabatha argues death is within policy coverage as an accident.	Lightning Rod argues death resulted from an intentional act/excluded residence.	No; death was not an accident/occurrence under the policy.
Whether Ivy was a resident of Dan’s household at the time of death.	Tabatha contends Ivy was a resident for purposes of coverage.	Lightning Rod argues resident exclusion applies.	moot; covered issue resolved by occurrence ruling.

Gearing v. Nationwide Ins. Co., 76 Ohio St.3d 34 (1996-Ohio-113) (insurance coverage depends on policy scope, exclusions)
Allstate Ins. Co. v. Campbell, 128 Ohio St.3d 186 (2010-Ohio-6312) (inferred intent applies only when harm is intrinsically tied to act)
Randolf v. Grange Mut. Cas. Co., 57 Ohio St.2d 25 (1979) (occurrence = accident; unintended event)
Morner v. Giuliano, 2010-Ohio-2938 () (ordinary meaning of ‘accident’ as unintended)
Black v. Richards, 2010-Ohio-2938 (5th Dist.) (definition of term in policy generally given ordinary meaning)