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Miller v. O'Brien8/2/2005
Opinion Vote: REVERSED and REMANDED.
Ulrich, P.J., and Smart, J., concur.
Opinion:
State Automobile Mutual Insurance Company ("State Auto") appeals from a summary judgment entered in the Circuit Court of Johnson County in favor of Jeffery Miller in an equitable garnishment action he filed against State Auto and Patrick O'Brien to satisfy the unsatisfied portion of a judgment Miller obtained in a personal injury action against O'Brien. In the equitable garnishment action, Miller claimed that O'Brien was entitled to insurance coverage under an insurance policy issued by State Auto to O'Brien's employer, Holden Animal Clinic, Inc. The trial court found that no material facts were in dispute, that O'Brien was an insured under the policy, that the accident was covered, and that Miller was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. For the following reasons, we reverse the trial court's judgment.
On November 5, 2001, O'Brien was driving his truck to work at the Holden Animal Clinic when his truck left the road and struck Miller, who was walking alongside the road. Miller sustained significant injuries from this accident. On December 27, 2001, Miller filed a personal injury action against O'Brien and the Holden Animal Clinic in the Circuit Court of Johnson County, and on April 11, 2003, Miller obtained a judgment against O'Brien for $430,760.36 in that action.
At the time of the accident, Holden Animal Clinic was covered by a Business Owners Liability insurance policy issued by State Auto. After Miller obtained his judgment against O'Brien, he filed an equitable garnishment action against State Auto and O'Brien pursuant to section 379.200. After all three parties filed motions for summary judgment, the trial court granted the motion for summary judgment filed by Miller and entered its judgment against State Auto, finding that O'Brien was an "insured" under the State Auto policy and that the accident was covered by the policy. State Auto appeals from that judgment.
"The propriety of summary judgment is purely an issue of law which we review de novo on the record submitted and the law." Pratt v. Seventy-One Hawthorne Place Assocs., L.P., 106 S.W.3d 608, 611 (Mo. App. W.D. 2003) (internal quotations omitted). "Summary judgment will be upheld on appeal if: (1) there is no genuine dispute of material fact, and (2) the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Missouri Employers Mut. Ins. Co. v. Nichols, 149 S.W.3d 617, 623 (Mo. App. W.D. 2004). We will affirm the grant of summary judgment if the movant was entitled to judgment based on any ground raised in the summary judgment motion and supported by the record. Id.
State Auto raises one point on appeal; however, that point contains two distinct claims of error on the part of the trial court. Grouping multiple allegations of error in a single point relied on that do not relate to a single issue violates Rule 84.04(d). In re D.L.W., 133 S.W.3d 582, 584 (Mo. App. S.D. 2004). A point relied on should contain only one issue, and parties should not group multiple contentions about different issues together into one point relied on. Woodson v. City of Independence, 124 S.W.3d 20, 25 (Mo. App. W.D. 2004). However, while State Auto's point relied on is deficient in this respect, the various claims of error are addressed separately within the argument and are clearly expressed. We, therefore, choose to review these claims of error despite this shortcoming in the point relied on. See Id.
In the first argument advanced, State Auto contends that, as a matter of law, O'Brien cannot properly have been found to be an "insured" as that term is defined in the policy. State Auto a
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