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Nelson v. Planet Ins. Co.11/30/1995
Per Curiam: Barbara Tressler (Tressler) rented a 1990 Ford Mustang from respondent Sun Belt Sports Car, Ltd. (Sun Belt) in Las Vegas, Nevada. Planet Insurance Company (Planet) provided insurance coverage to Sun Belt for the vehicles it owned and rented. In the automobile rental agreement, Sun Belt was listed as the named insured, Tressler was listed as the renter, and Tressler's daughter Yvonne was listed as an authorized driver. The rental agreement expressly prohibited anyone else from driving the vehicle. Yvonne was driving the vehicle when she asked one of the passengers, appellant Julian Nelson (Nelson), to drive. This permitted Yvonne to shoot her pistol out of a window at a group of people. Immediately after the shot was fired, Nelson accidentally drove the vehicle into the curb and caused the gun in Yvonne's hand to discharge, killing Karlas Johnson (Karlas), another passenger. Karlas's mother, appellant Patricia Stovall (Stovall), filed a civil action against Nelson and Yvonne for the wrongful death of her son. Planet and Sun Belt filed a complaint for declaratory relief to establish that Planet had no liability to Stovall or Nelson. Nelson asserted a counterclaim against Planet for breach of insurance contract and bad faith refusal to defend him in the wrongful death action. Planet moved for summary judgment as to Nelson's counterclaim, and Nelson made a countermotion for summary judgment. The district court denied Nelson's motion for summary judgment and granted summary judgment in favor of Planet and Sun Belt. We conclude that neither the language of the insurance policy or rental agreement, nor the law requiring car rental agencies to provide insurance to their lessees obligates Planet or Sun Belt to provide a defense or coverage to Nelson. The crucial fact in our analysis is that Nelson was driving without the permission of either Sun Belt, the vehicle lessor and named insured in the insurance policy, or Tressler, the renter of the vehicle. We affirm the summary judgment granted in favor of Planet and Sun Belt.
[111 Nev. 1373, Page 1375]
FACTS
Respondent Warren G. Spottz is a sole proprietor doing business as Sun Belt Sports Car, Ltd. in Las Vegas, Nevada. Planet is the insurer of Sun Belt. Stovall is the surviving parent of Karlas. On July 25, 1990, Tressler rented a 1990 Ford Mustang from Sun Belt. Tressler's daughter, Yvonne, was listed on the rental agreement as the only authorized driver. At the bottom of the first page, the agreement stated in prominent print: "ONLY DRIVERS LISTED ON THIS RENTAL AGREEMENT ALLOWED TO DRIVE VEHICLE." Sometime in the early morning hours of July 28, 1990, Yvonne and her female companion drove the Mustang to the 7-11 store at the intersection of Owen and Pecos Roads in Las Vegas, Nevada. These two young women met appellant Julian Nelson for the first time. Nelson accepted an offer to ride around with the two young women, and the trio went to the home of Karlas to see if Karlas would join them. Karlas was a friend of Nelson's, and neither of the two young women involved had previously met Karlas. At approximately 2:00 a.m., with Yvonne driving, the foursome headed to North Las Vegas. Once there, Yvonne spotted a group of Hispanic youths 1 who had thrown bottles at her car on the previous evening. Yvonne asked Nelson to drive. 2 Yvonne and her female companion got into the back seat, the female companion sitting behind Nelson, who was now driving. Yvonne sat behind Karlas, who was riding in the front passenger seat. The foursome then drove down a street where the Hispanic youths were congregated. Yvonne fired a shot out of the rear passenger-side window, then yelled to Nelson "let's go." Nelson ducked down and accelerated rapidly, causi
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