N. W. LANCIONE, APPELLANT,
v.
CALIFORNIA UNION INSURANCE COMPANY, APPELLEE
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SCHWARTZ, Judge.
The jury found that the plaintiff-appellant had been responsible for the arson which destroyed his insured property. His sole point on appeal claims the right to a directed verdict in his favor on that ques tion. We conclude, to the contrary, that the circumstantial evidence amply, indeed overwhelmingly, supports both the action of the trial court in denying that motion below and the jury’s resolution of the issue. Helman v. Seaboard Coast Line R. Co., 349 So. 2d 1187 (Fla.1977); Lopez v. Mechanics & Traders Ins. Co., 125 Fla. 252, 169 So. 670 (1936); see Chafetz v. Underwriters at Lloyd’s London, 332 F. 2d 152 (5th Cir. 1964).
Rodgers v. Auto-Owners Ins. Co., 379 So. 2d 700 (Fla.2d DCA 1980), upon which the appellant relies, is decisively distinguishable and therefore does not control. Among many other things, the record here, unlike Rodgers, shows that Lancione was actually at the scene of the fire immediately before it took place. The jury was plainly free to reject, as it did, his unsupported and highly dubious “explanation” of that presence. See Songer v. State, 322 So. 2d 481 (Fla.1975).
Affirmed.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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The Travelers Indem. Co. v. K.R.D., Inc., 429 So. 2d 777 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983)…e plaintiff did not establish the lack of a genuine issue concerning the carrier’s arson and misrepresentation defenses to this action on an insurance policy for the fire-caused destruction of its premises. See Lancione v. California Union Ins. Co., 382 So. 2d 821 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980). We therefore reverse the summary judgment on liability in the insured’s favor and remand for trial by jury. Holl v. Talcott, 191 So. 2d 40 (Fla.1966); Moseley v. Turrell, 354 So. 2d 121 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978).…
Authorities Cited
- Helman v. Seaboard Coast Line R.R. Co. & William A. Cagle, 349 So. 2d 1187 (Fla. 1977)
- Songer v. State, 322 So. 2d 481 (Fla. 1975)
- Chafetz v. Underwriters AT Lloyd's London, 332 F.2d 152 (5th Cir. 1964)
- Bernadeane O'Neal v. United States, 332 F.2d 152 (9th Cir. 1964)
- Lopez v. Mechanics & Traders Ins. Co., 125 Fla. 252 (Fla. 1936)
- Rosalind Rodgers v. Auto-Owners Ins. Co., 379 So. 2d 700 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980)