Gates v. New York Life Insurance

The plaintiffs, beneficiaries of a life insurance policy, commenced this action to recover a double indemnity payable upon accidental death. The majority affirm a directed verdict for the defendant on the ground that all the testimony showed that the insured, William R. Gates, set in motion a course of events likely to result in death and, thus, his death was not accidental.

*27Both the majority and I are in agreement that if Gates did, in fact, arm himself and fire at the police officers who had stopped him, his death by a gunshot fired by one of the officers was not accidental.1 I cannot agree,…