Background
The Applicant Brett Butterfield suffered a psychotic episode while visiting a firearms store in 2019. He formed the delusional belief that the store owner, Mr. Carr, had raped and murdered his female friend. Feeling threatened, Mr. Butterfield left the store, retrieved a hunting knife, and upon re-entry began stabbing the store owner in the head and neck, yelling “you raped and killed my girlfriend”, and “murderers need to be murdered”.
Mr. Butterfield underwent two forensic psychiatric assessments following his arrest. Both psychiatrists diagnosed him with schizophrenia and concluded that he was not criminally responsible, as he had not had the capacity to appreciate that the attack was morally wrong due to his delusion. At trial, the Ontario Court of Justice found that Mr. Butterfield had committed a criminal offence, but ruled that the defence of Not Criminally Responsible (“NCR”) applied.
Mr. Carr sued Mr. Butterfield for negligence because he had attended his store and applied for a firearms licence when it was reasonably foreseeable that he would injure or kill someone due to his mental illness. At the time of the incident, Mr. Butterfield held a Condominium Unit Owners’ Policy with Intact Insurance Company (“the Policy). The Policy included third party liability insurance, under which the insurer had a duty to defend and indemnify the insured against certain claims of up to a limit of $2 million. The Policy also stated that Intact did not cover claims arising from bodily injury caused by any intentional or criminal act by an insured person. Intact denied coverage to Mr. Butterfield using this exclusionary clause, stating that although his claim fell within the scope of the Policy, it was barred because his actions had been intentional and criminal in nature.
Mr. Butterfield brought an application for a declaration that Intact had a duty to defend him in the action against him. The issue at trial was whether the exclusionary clause for intentional or criminal acts applied to Mr. Butterfield’s claim.
Analysis
Justice Braid first addressed whether an intentional act or criminal act could be claimed by the respondent insurer when the Plaintiff was only suing for negligence. Referring to case law,[1] she noted that in considering an exclusionary clause of an insurance policy, the court was not limited to the allegations found in the Statement of Claim. If the negligence claimed arose from the same harm as the intentional tort, the exclusion would be found to apply. Upon review of the Statement of Claim, Justice Braid found that the negligence claim was based on the intentional tort as the damages arose directly from Mr. Butterfield’s assault.
Justice Braid then examined whether Mr. Butterfield’s actions were criminal. She stated that ‘criminal act’ as defined in the Policy referred to any breach of the Criminal Code, regardless of the intent or lack thereof to cause harm. At his criminal trial, Mr.. Butterfield had been found to have committed the crime of aggravated assault. Despite Mr. Butterfield being exempted from conviction by reason of being NCR, Justice Braid held that Mr. Butterfield’s actions satisfied the definition of a criminal act under the Policy.
Justice Braid then examined whether Mr. Butterfield’s actions were criminal. She stated that ‘criminal act’ as defined in the Policy referred to any breach of the Criminal Code, regardless of the intent or lack thereof to cause harm. At his criminal trial, Mr.. Butterfield had been found to have committed the crime of aggravated assault. Despite Mr. Butterfield being exempted from conviction by reason of being NCR, Justice Braid held that Mr. Butterfield’s actions satisfied the definition of a criminal act under the Policy.
Lastly, Justice Braid referred to two cases in determining whether Mr. Butterfield’s assault was an intentional act under the Policy.[2] The case law stated that insurance policies, in speaking of intentional acts, referred to civil responsibility instead of criminal responsibility. The test in civil law for whether an individual with a mental disorder was responsible for their tortious act asked whether they were able to appreciate the nature and consequences of the act.[3] The inability of the individual to realize that their actions were wrong did not grant relief from liability.[4] Justice Braid found that Mr. Butterfield’s words and actions demonstrated a clear intent to harm or kill Mr. Carr with his knife. She concluded that Mr. Butterfield’s actions met the definition of an intentional act.