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Arkansas Best Freight System Inc. v. Moore9/18/1992
The sole issue in this appeal is whether the trial court erred in its application of the doctrine of res judicata.
On January 22, 1982, H.H. Moore, Jr. Trucking Company, Inc. (H.H. Moore), which operates a long-distance trucking company, entered into a trip lease agreement with Arkansas Best Freight System, Inc. (Arkansas Best), a motor freight carrier licensed by the Interstate Commerce Commission. Pursuant to the trip lease, H.H. Moore agreed to provide Arkansas Best with a tractor trailer and driver; Arkansas Best agreed to assume primary responsibility to the public for the operation of the tractor trailer, as required by Interstate Commerce Commission regulations; and H.H. Moore agreed to indemnify Arkansas Best from any claims, demands, and judgments that might arise from the operation of the tractor trailer.
On January 23, 1982, an accident occurred in the State of West Virginia in which both H.H. Moore's driver, Calvin Mack Bailess, and a passenger, James Iverson Bryant, were killed. The Bryant estate brought a wrongful death action against the Bailess estate,
H.H. Moore, and Arkansas Best. Arkansas Best then filed a cross-claim against H.H. Moore, seeking indemnification under the trip lease for all amounts that Arkansas Best might be held liable to the Bryant estate.
While the wrongful death action was pending, Carolina Casualty Insurance Company (Carolina Casualty), H.H. Moore's liability insurance carrier, brought a declaratory judgment proceeding in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia against H.H. Moore, Arkansas Best, the Bryant estate, and two other insurance companies. Carolina Casualty requested a determination by the court of the rights and obligations of the parties and a declaration that Carolina Casualty had no obligation to any of the parties under the insurance policy it had issued to H.H. Moore. The wrongful death action was stayed pending the resolution of the declaratory judgment proceeding.
While both actions were pending, Arkansas Best settled the Bryant estate's wrongful death claims for $80,000 and paid the entire sum. H.H. Moore consented to the settlement.
In the declaratory judgment proceeding, the federal district court ruled that the indemnity provision in the trip lease was unenforceable. The district court also ruled that H.H. Moore's policy with Carolina Casualty did not provide coverage for liability which H.H. Moore assumed by contract.
Arkansas Best appealed the district court's decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's judgment. In an unpublished opinion, the Court of Appeals noted that H.H. Moore's policy with Carolina Casualty expressly excluded coverage for "liability assumed . . . under any contract or agreement." The Court of Appeals then stated that " n the basis of this clear exclusion, we agree with the ruling [of the district court]." Finally, the Court of Appeals concluded its opinion saying, "We decide no more than that Carolina [Casualty] is not liable under its policy as issued."
Thereafter, in the wrongful death action, Arkansas Best filed a motion for summary judgment on its cross-claim against H.H. Moore, seeking indemnity under the trip lease for the $80,000 Arkansas Best had paid to the Bryant estate. H.H. Moore then filed a cross-motion for summary judgment on the ground that the cross-claim "for indemnity barred by the doctrine of res judicata." The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of H.H. Moore, concluding that Arkansas Best's cl
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