Kerns v. CSE Ins. Group

In Kerns v. CSE Ins. Group (2003) 106 Cal.App.4th 368, an insurance company denied coverage for injuries caused by its insured because the insured pleaded guilty to attempted murder and the policy excluded coverage for intentional wrongdoing. (Kerns, supra, 106 Cal.App.4th at pp. 374-376.) The Court of Appeal reversed a summary judgment in the insurance company's favor not because the guilty plea failed to satisfy the insurance company's initial burden, but because the opposing party presented evidence establishing a triable issue of fact on whether the insured was sane at the time she committed the crime. (Id. at pp. 376-377, 379, 395.)