179 Wis. 431 | Wis. | 1923
Lead Opinion
The following opinions were filed December 5, 1922:
The defense of suicide is strongly and ably urged by counsel for. the defendant. The law is well settled, based on human experience, that there is a strong presumption against suicide. The love of life and the immorality of taking one’s own life turn the mind against suicide. So it is that when suicide is alleged in defense the burden is on the defendant to establish such fact. In such a case, where the evidence is wholly circumstantial, as in this case, every other reasonable hypothesis to account for the death must be excluded to take the case from the jury. Krogh v. Modern Brotherhood of America, 153 Wis. 397, 141 N. W. 276; Pagel v. United States C. Co. 158 Wis. 278, 148 N. W. 878; Travelers’ Ins. Co. v. Allen, 237 Fed. 78; Stephenson v. Bankers’ L. Asso. 108 Iowa, 637, 79 N. W. 459; Home Ben. Asso. v. Sargent, 142 U. S. 691, 12 Sup. Ct. 332.
The evidence in this case bearing on suicide is voluminous and we can but briefly review it. The defendant contends, as a motive for self-destruction, that deceased was in ill health and financially embarrassed and that the physical facts point indisputably to suicide. It is true that deceased had been suffering from ill health for four or five weeks immediately prior to his death, so as to keep him from his office most of the time, but it is not shown that he was dangerously ill or that he had despaired of recovery. On the contrary, it appears that on the day of his death deceased had gone down town in á street car and had expressed himself as feeling much improved and ready to go back to his
The physical facts are more suggestive of self-destruction, but are they so conclusive as to furnish no basis for a jury to find to the contrary? We think not. Our common judgment and experience teaches us that accidents often happen which are hard to explain on any basis of reason or-logic. That the house was locked is not significant. The wife was away. No one was in the home except the deceased, and in a large-city the custom of locking the front door is not unusual. The door had a Yale lock, which would lock upon closing. If the deceased was to take a bath he would naturally lock the front door under the circumstances. The locking of the bathroom door also is not unusual when a person is about to take a bath. This door was locked with a turn bolt. It was his custom to lock the door. It may seem peculiar that deceased should take his bath at this time of day. But it must be remembered that he was not well and a bath would be refreshing after his trip into the city. He had not taken his customary bath the
Mr. Fehrer in his lifetime was a man of excellent reputation, had many friends, carried on a large and successful business, had a happy home life, was cheerfúl in his disposition, had expressed himself immediately prior, to his death as to a hopeful future both as to business and as to his health, had in times past expressed himself as opposed to suicide, and all these facts submitted to the jury strongly tended to establish the fact of accident as against the theory of suicide. It made a question for the jury/and the finding-of the jury on that question is conclusive. The deceased lived an honorable life and died an honorable death. That is the record as made by the jury on sufficient evidence.
Assuming now, as we must, that deceased came to his death by reason of accidentally turning on the gas when in a dazed or. fainting condition, and that he fell into the bath tub and became asphyxiated, the question arises, Was his death the result of “violent external and accidental means” within the meaning of the policy? We-have no difficulty in arriving at our conclusion on this point. The law is well established that death by asphyxiation through accident
In Paul v. Travelers’ Ins. Co. 112 N. Y. 472, 479, 20 N. E. 347, a leading case on the subject, the court says:
“As to the point raised by the appellant that the death was not caused by external and violent means within the meaning of the policy, we think it a sufficient answer that the gas in the atmosphere, as an external cause, was, a violent agency in the sense that it worked upon the intestate so as to cause his death. That a death is the result of accident or is unnatural imports an external and violent agency as the cause.”
In the note to 11 Am. Law Rep. 389, the rule was stated as follows-:
“Death from inhaling gas is within the ordinary life policy or accident policies insuring against death from external, violent, and accidental means.”
Many cases are cited to this proposition. On this point we hold the verdict of the jury to be sustained by the evidence and the law.
However, the policy itself covered death by accidental asphyxiation. Defendant claims that asphyxiation was not the sole cause of death, but that his illness contributed to the accident, assuming the facts as claimed by the plaintiff. The rule is well settled in the law that the conditions in a policy of insurance will be liberally construed in favor of the insured. This rule was made necessary by the fact that the contract is drawn by the company containing many conditions hard for a layman to understand, and making it easy for the company to overreach the insured. The reasons for such rule may be found in DeLancey v. Rockingham F. M. F. Ins. Co. 52 N. H. 581; 1 Joyce, Ins. (2d ed.) p. 581, § 221; Wickham v. United Brotherhood, 178 Wis. 564, 190 N. W. 436. We have no desire to- restrict this rule in the least. Insurance that does not insure may easily become a delusion and a snare .to the unwary. It is well for both parties to the contract that it be made plain, simple, and
“Against bodily injury (herein called such injury) sustained solely through violent external and accidental means (suicide, or any attempt thereat, whether sane or insane, not included), as follows: . . .
“Blood poisoning, sunstroke, freezing, hydrophobia, asphyxiation, unprovoked assaults and choking by swallowing, as the result of such injury, shall be deemed to be included in the said term ‘such injury.’ ”
That language is plain enough and needs no involved analysis to determine its meaning. Death by accidental asphyxiation is specially and plainly covered.
Defendant claims that the insurance had lapsed by nonpayment of the premium. The evidence on this point we deem conclusively establishes payment of the premium in the regular course of business, and there was no lapse.
Defendant also claims the right to prorate the loss because the insured carried life insurance with other companies without notice to defendant company. We have recently held that the prorating clause of a standard policy does not apply as between a life insurance policy and an accident insurance policy. Arneberg v. Continental C. Co. 178 Wis. 428, 190 N. W. 97.
The defendant also assigns as errors on the trial the rulings of the court on admission of evidence, improper instructions to the jury, and failure to submit certain questions in the special verdict as requested by the defendant. These assignments have had our careful attention, but we fail to find any reversible error therein.
We now come to the contention of the defendant that the plaintiff made false statements in his application pertaining to his health which wholly voided his policy. We have set out in the statement of facts the questions and answers re
By the Court. — The judgment of the circuit court is affirmed.
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting). Courts and juries are naturally and properly inclined in cases involving such a distressing occurrence as is presented in the record here to resolve that such a death was the result of accident rather than design, and I regret that it is impossible for me to concur in the conclusion by the majority upholding the verdict of the jury on that question in this case.
There is and can be no question but that the gas was turned on in the bathroom by the deceased. The testimony is to the effect that it required something of an effort to turn on the gas in this particular fixture, and necessarily it required some conscious effort on the part of the deceased.' It was conceded from the testimony of the plaintiff herself and is apparent from, the situation and the height of the fixture that it could not have been turned on by the mere falling or stumbling of the deceased. '
No match was found in the bathroom and evidently he had made no attempt to light the gas. There was no evidence that he had acquired the habit, either in the then or former residence, of turning on the light in the bathroom, for this, Mrs. Fehrer testified, she usually did herself, and when it was turned on it remained burning all night. The jet from which the gas-was escaping was just above the end of the bath tub where the faucets and vent are placed. His body was found with the head resting at the other end, entirely within the tub, resting on the left side and with his right hand at his nose. The small discoloration on the left temple was noticed only by the’undertaker at the time of his preparing the body for burial, and it was so slight that it presented no elevation or signs of swelling whatsoever. The doctor who was called immediately after the finding of the body and worked on the same some time did not testify as to having seen any outside marks of violence or injury, and in his death' certificate submitted by plaintiff as part of the proofs of death he stated that he did not discover any visible
From the facts the conclusion seems irresistible that this death was not an accidental one.
I am authorized to state that Mr. Justice Jones concurs in this dissent.
A motion for a rehearing was denied, with $25 costs, on February 6, 1923.