Mr. Jabara's sister, Victoria Williams, sued Majors and Mr. Schmauss in an Oklahoma state court. She asserted claims for negligence or recklessness against Mr. Schmauss.

State Farm Fire & Casualty Company, which had issued a homeowners' insurance policy to Mr. Schmauss and Majors and a personal liability umbrella policy to Mr. Schmauss, asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma to declare that its policies did not cover Ms. Williams' claims.

State Farm moved for summary judgment, arguing that intentional murder was not an “accident” and, therefore, was not covered by the policies.

The district court granted State Farm's motion, and Ms. Williams appealed to the Tenth Circuit.

The Tenth Circuit's Decision

The Tenth Circuit affirmed.

In its decision, the circuit court explained that the term “accident” in the State Farm policies “unambiguously” precluded coverage for murder from any perspective.

The Tenth Circuit also rejected Ms. Williams' contention that the severability clause in the homeowners' policy made the murder an “occurrence” as to Mr. Schmauss even though it was not an “occurrence” as to Mr. Majors, reiterating that murder could never be an “accident” – as in the definition of “occurrence” – even if only one insured committed the murder and it allegedly was unexpected from the perspective of the other insured.

Finally, the circuit court also rejected Ms. Williams' argument that the policies' exclusions for “bodily injury or property damage[]” that was “either expected or intended by the insured; or . . . the result of [any] willful and malicious act[] of the insured” only excluded coverage for Majors, who acted intentionally, but not for Mr. Schmauss, who allegedly was merely negligent. The circuit court reasoned that exclusions only came into play after coverage was found under an insurance policy's coverage terms. Because the policies did not provide coverage for any murder, regardless of who committed it, the intentional acts exclusions were “a nullity.”

The Tenth Circuit concluded by denying Ms. Williams' request to ask the Oklahoma Supreme Court to decide whether murder could constitute an “accident” in a third-party insurance case under Oklahoma law where the murder was unintended and unexpected from the perspective of the insured, as she alleged.

The case is State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. Williams, No. 18-5080 (10th Cir. June 17, 2019). Attorneys involved include: For STATE FARM FIRE & CASUALTY COMPANY, Plaintiff – Appellee: Steven Kent Balman, Franden Farris Quillin Goodnight & Roberts, Tulsa, OK; Jody R. Nathan, Franden, Farris, Quillin, Goodnight & Roberts, Tulsa, OK. For VICTORIA WILLIAMS, as personal representative of the estate of Khalid Jabara, Defendant – Appellant: Anthony F. Gorospe, Gorospe Law Group, Tulsa, OK; Andrew C. Jayne, Baum Glass Jayne & Carwile, Tulsa, OK.