Allstate Ins. Co. v. Tenn

Summary

The court held that a plea of nolo contendere cannot be admitted in an insurance declaratory judgment action to prove that the insured committed a criminal act and therefore cannot, by itself, trigger a criminal-acts exclusion. The exclusion did not depend on a conviction, and the insurer remained free to establish the insured's criminal conduct through other evidence. The court rejected the insurer's public-policy arguments because applying the evidentiary rule uniformly would not prevent enforcement of the exclusion or allow the insured to profit from wrongdoing. Justice D’AURIA, joined by Justice McDONALD, concurred in part and dissented in part, arguing that the plea should be admissible but not dispositive in the coverage dispute.