Coville v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co

In Coville v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co., 57 Conn. App. 275, 748 A.2d 875, cert. granted, 253 Conn. 919, 755 A.2d 213 (2000) the plaintiff brought an underinsured motorist claim against Liberty Mutual Insurance Company pursuant to a policy that it had issued. The plaintiff sustained injuries while a passenger in an underinsured vehicle. The appeal to the Supreme Court was withdrawn prior to a decision from that court. In Coville v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co. the plaintiff was found to be helpless. The plaintiff had consumed alcohol to the point of being semiconscious and completely unable to care for herself. Id., 57 Conn. App. at 277. At a hospital emergency room, the Coville plaintiff was found to have a blood alcohol content of 0.38 percent. A blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.38 percent refers to a ratio of alcohol in the blood that is thirty-eight hundredths of one percent of alcohol by weight. For purposes of comparison, a person is deemed under the influence of alcohol to the extent that he may not operate a motor vehicle if his BAC is ten-hundredths of one percent (0.10 percent) or more of alcohol by weight. General Statutes 14-227a (a). In Coville, the tortfeasor "took physical custody of the plaintiff against her will by physically taking her to his truck, lifting her inside and forcing her to remain by closing the door each time she opened it." Id., 282-83. In Coville, the plaintiff alleged that "her injuries were caused by the tortfeasor's negligence in forcing her . . . to remain in his truck against her wishes . . . ." Coville v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co., supra, 57 Conn. App. 283. "Practice Book 10-4 provides that 'it is unnecessary to allege any promise or duty which the law implies from the facts pleaded.'" Id.