Ledbetter v. Crudup

The plaintiff, Arlinda Ledbetter, was injured while on property owned by Lannie Crudup. Ledbetter sued Crudup and obtained a default judgment in the amount of $25,000, because of Crudup’s failure to answer the complaint. Ledbetter, then, initiated a garnishment proceeding against Crudup’s insurer, Illinois Founders Insurance Company (IFIC), the garnishee-appellee, in order to collect the judgment amount. IFIC filed its answers to the garnishment interrogatories stating that it was not in possession of any property or funds owing to Crudup. IFIC alleged, as a policy defense, that it had never…