Cox v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.

Birdsong, Presiding Judge.

Lewis D. Cox and his wife Joanne Cox appeal the trial court’s grant of judgment notwithstanding a mistrial to State Farm in the Coxes’ action on their State Farm homeowner’s policy to recover for structural damage to their home allegedly caused by explosions in the vicinity of their property. At the conclusion of the Coxes’ case, State Farm’s motion for a directed verdict, based upon a provision in the policy excluding coverage for “earth movement,” was denied. The case was submitted to the jury, and when the jury was unable to reach a verdict and a mistrial was…