In Mullen v. Glens Falls Ins. Co. (1977) 73 Cal.App.3d 163, the defendant insurer issued a comprehensive personal liability policy to the Santoses. The policy provided that the insurer would defend the Santoses or members of their household in any suit against them alleging bodily injury caused by an "occurrence" (defined as "an accident"), but it excluded coverage for bodily injury arising out of the use of a motor vehicle. (Id. at pp. 165-166.) While the policy was in effect, the plaintiff sued the Santoses' son, Anthony, for assault and battery, alleging that while the plaintiff was filling Anthony's car with gasoline, Anthony intentionally assaulted him. (Id. at p. 166.) The insurer declined to defend the suit, noting that the policy did not cover intentional acts or acts proximately caused by the operation of an automobile. (Id. at p. 167.) Judgment was entered against Anthony; the plaintiff (as Anthony's assignee) then commenced an action against the insurer for damages for failure to defend. (Id. at p. 168.) The court held that the insurer breached its duty to defend. It noted that if it were to look only to the plaintiff's complaint in his personal injury action against Anthony, it would be "tempted to agree with Glens Falls' position that it was not obligated to provide Anthony with a defense in that lawsuit; the allegations of the complaint suggest that the operation and use of the Chevrolet automobile ... was somehow connected with plaintiff's injuries, and Glens Falls' insurance policy excluded coverage for bodily injury or property damage arising out of the 'ownership, maintenance, operation, use, loading or unloading of any automobile.' " (Mullen, supra, 73 Cal.App.3d at p. 169.) Likewise, if it were "to be guided solely by the judgment acquired by plaintiff against Anthony Santos in the personal injury action and by plaintiff's subsequent deposition, we would have no alternative but to declare that the incident of February 23, 1969, was not covered by the insurance policy. According to the deposition, plaintiff was savagely assaulted by Anthony Santos with a tire iron, without provocation, and the term 'occurrence' within the ambit of the coverage provided by the policy does not include bodily injuries or property damage 'expected or intended from the standpoint of the insured.' " (Ibid.) The court noted, however, that an insurance company must defend any lawsuit brought against its insured that potentially seeks damages covered by the policy, and an insurer's duty to defend is not determined merely by looking to the underlying complaint or judgment. (Ibid.) Instead, the "crucial question" is "whether Glens Falls was in possession of factual information which gave rise to potential liability under its policy when the company denied Anthony Santos a defense in plaintiff's personal injury action." (Id. at p. 170.) The court concluded that it was: "The insurance company had been notified by its agent that plaintiff received a head injury in a fight with Anthony Santos when he was struck by Santos with a tire iron and that she did not have all of the details of the incident. Accordingly, despite the allegations of the complaint in plaintiff's personal injury action which were even somewhat ambiguous on the point of whether the operation and use of an automobile were involved in causing plaintiff's injuries, when Glens Falls denied Anthony Santos a defense it had information in its possession which showed that the operation and use of an automobile had no causal connection with plaintiff's injuries and that the alleged injuries were the result of a fight; for all the insurance company could have known at that time, plaintiff started the fight and was struck by Santos in self-defense. It is now settled that injuries resulting from acts committed by an insured in self-defense are not 'intended' or 'expected' within the meaning of those terms as customarily used in an exclusionary clause like the one involved in the present case." (Ibid.)