Dalbey v. Equitable L. Assur. Soc. of U.S‪.‬

Life Insurance ? Recovery of Double Indemnity for Death Caused by Accidental Means ? Death of City Fireman from Pulmonary Edema Caused by Smoke ? Recovery Sustained by Evidence ? Liberal Construction of Policy in Favor of Beneficiary ? Circumstantial Evidence Sufficient to Prove any Issue of Fact ? Burden of Proof. Life Insurance ? Double Indemnity if Death Caused by Accidental Means ? Burden of Proof on Beneficiary to Show What. 1. To recover on a life insurance policy providing for double indemnity in case death results from bodily injury caused directly, exclusively and independently of all other causes by external, violent and purely accidental means, the beneficiary has the burden of showing that death resulted from accidental means, i.e., from something unforeseen or unusual which produced the injury. Same ? Liberal Construction of Policy in Favor of Insured and Strictly Against Insurer. 2. A policy of life insurance must be liberally construed in favor of the insured and strictly against the insurer. Appeal and Error ? Presumption That Judgment Appealed from Correct ? Burden of Showing Error on Appellant. 3. On appeal the supreme court indulges the presumption that the judgment of the district court appealed from is correct and will uphold it unless clearly shown to be erroneous, the burden of showing which rests upon the appellant. Same ? Finding of Court Tried Without Jury Conclusive on Appeal Where Evidence Furnishes Reasonable Grounds for Different Conclusions. 4. The finding of the trial court in a cause (on a policy of life insurance) in which the parties waived jury trial, will not be disturbed on appeal if the evidence, fully considered, furnished reasonable grounds for different conclusions. Trial ? Evidence ? Any Issue Provable by Circumstantial Evidence. 5. The solution of any issue of fact may rest in whole or in part upon circumstantial evidence. Life Insurance ? Death by Accidental Means ? Definition of "Accident" and "Accidental." 6. The words "accident" and "accidental" as used in a policy insuring against death by accident (see par. 1, above) have no technical or legal meaning, but must be considered in the light of their common and - Page 588 accepted meaning and construed according to common speech and usage, viz.: something unforeseen, unusual, without design, intention or premeditation. Same ? Death of City Fireman from Pulmonary Edema Caused by Smoke Held "Accidental." 7. Evidence in an action to recover on a life insurance policy providing for double indemnity for accidental death, showing that deceased, a strong and healthy young man and a member of a city fire department, while assisting in fighting a fire in a barn located without the city limits in which a large quantity of hay and some livestock were destroyed causing at times unbearable smoke and stench, was overcome thereby while shifting the position of the fire hose and died from pulmonary edema a few hours later, held sufficient to warrant the finding of the trial judge, who tried the cause without a jury, that death resulted from accident within the meaning of the policy referred to in paragraph 1, supra.