Mitchell v. Aetna Life & Casualty Insurance

The principal issue in this case is whether an insured’s criminal conviction for reckless manslaughter operates to relieve his liability insurance carrier from providing him with a defense or affording him coverage in a civil action based upon negligence, brought by the decedent’s estate; or whether the criminal conviction collaterally estops the estate or the insured from claiming that the act was negligent and not intentional. We recently addressed the latter issue in Rullo v. Rullo, 121 N.H. 299, 428 A.2d 1245 (1981), and therefore need address it only briefly here.

The facts underlying the…