Newsome v. Travelers Insurance
Newsome v. Travelers Insurance
Opinion of the Court
This was a suit upon a policy of insurance which covered “bodily injuries effected through external, violent, and accidental means,” but stipulated that it did not cover injuries “intentionally inflicted upon the insured by any other person.” The petition alleged: that the insured was -accidentally killed by being stabbed by an unknown negro, who did not know the insured and was unknown to him; that there had been no difficulty between the insured and the negro, and no provocation had been given by the insured; that the negro did not intend to kill any one, but did intend to wound- another person, and, mistaking the insured for such other person, ran upon and stabbed him while he was walking the streets; and that the assault upon the insured was a pure accident. 'The Supreme Court held that this petition set forth a cause of action, and reversed the judgment of the trial court which dismissed it on general demurrer. Newsome v. Travelers Insurance Co., 143 Ga. 785 (85 S. E. 1035). Subsequently, upon the trial of the .case (the defendant in its answer having admitted payment of the premiums on the policy, and that the plaintiff had given the required notice of the death of the insured), the plaintiff, who was the beneficiary in the.policy sued upon, introduced proof showing that the death of the insured resulted from
In accordance with -that decision it is now held by tjiis court' that, under the facts of the case, there was no presumption that the fatal wounding of the insured occurred under the circumstances as set forth in the petition, and, the plaintiff-having failed to prove those averments’ of her petition, a recovery was not warranted, and the court did not err in awarding a nonsuit. The contrary ruling in this case in 19 Ga. App., supra, is necessarily overruled; and as the former judgment of reversal by this court' was based solely upon the alleged error of the trial court in awarding a nonsuit (the other' assignments of error being passed upon and adjudged to be without merit), that judgment is withdrawn and vacated, and the judgment of the lower court is
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.