James Curtain v. Charles H. Aldrich

James Curtain obtained judgment in the amount of $8,500 against Charles Aldrich for personal injuries and instituted a garnishment action against Vanguard Insurance Company to recover such amount. Vanguard filed a declaratory judgment suit against both Aldrich and Curtain to obtain a declaration of its rights under its policy issued to Aldrich with reference to the coverage for the incident here involved. The trial court consolidated the actions and heard the evidence on both before a jury. At the Conclusion of the evidence the court directed a verdict in favor of Curtain against Vanguard on the garnishment action and declared Vanguard's rights under its policy to be consistent with its judgment which in effect declared Vanguard was obligated to pay the judgment against Aldrich. Vanguard appeals and contends the court erred in directing a verdict against it in the garnishment action and alternatively contends that even if its policy affords coverage to Aldrich there was a factual issue to be determined by the jury. Reversed and remanded.