Latest 2 Cases: United States v. Bolman (Criminal Law), Murphy Oil Corp. v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co. (Insurance Law)

Believe All Women or Support Joe Biden?

SHERRY F. COLB

Cornell Law professor Sherry F. Colb comments on recent sexual assault allegations against presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Colb argues that if the only choices for President are Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the sexual assault allegation against the latter will take second fiddle to the need to defeat the former and defends this perspective as not manifesting hypocrisy or indifference to sexual assault or other intimate violence.

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United States v. Bolman

Docket: 18-2759

Opinion Date: April 21, 2020

Judge: Jane Louise Kelly

Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction for involuntary manslaughter after he struck and killed his nephew with his truck. The court held that the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction, because a reasonable jury could find defendant grossly negligent beyond a reasonable doubt. The court also held that the district court did not plainly err by failing to instruct the jury that actual knowledge is an essential element of the offense that is separate from gross negligence, because the instructions, viewed as a whole, accurately and adequately defined the essential elements of the offense.

Murphy Oil Corp. v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co.

Docket: 19-1140

Opinion Date: April 21, 2020

Judge: William Duane Benton

Areas of Law: Insurance Law

After Murphy Oil sold an oil refinery to Valero, a fire occurred on the property. Valero demanded indemnification from Murphy, and Murphy sought a defense from its general commercial liability insurer, Liberty Mutual. After Liberty Mutual refused, Murphy Oil filed suit for a declaratory judgment and damages. The Eighth Circuit held that the district court properly ruled that there is no possibility that the policy covers the property damage alleged in the complaint, and thus there is no duty to defend. In this case, Unigard Sec. Ins. Co. v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc., 962 S.W.2d 735, 740 (Ark. 1998) (Unigard I) controls, because the statute of limitations for tort liability ran before Valero filed its complaint. Furthermore, like in Unigard I, any liability of Murphy Oil in the underlying suit represents the "economic loss" from Murphy Oil's breach of contract and is not covered by the policy. The court also held that the general contract liability exclusion specifically precludes coverage of the breach-of-contract claim, and exceptions to the contractual liability exclusion do not apply. Finally, the court rejected Murphy Oil's "customized" Alienated Premises Endorsement claim. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment to Liberty Mutual.