On July 10, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted a petition of allowance of appeal in Erie Insurance Exchange v. Moore, No. 87 WAL 2018, 2018 Pa. LEXIS 3535, a case involving an allegedly accidental shooting. The court’s statement of issues to be addressed signals the possibility of a change in Pennsylvania law regarding the duty to defend, where the insured is alleged to have engaged in a violent crime.

The facts of the case are grisly. On Sept. 26, 2013, Harold McCutcheon went to the home of his ex-wife, Terry L. McCutcheon, killed her, and then committed suicide. Before Harold McCutcheon killed himself, Terry McCutcheon’s boyfriend, Richard Carly, arrived unexpectedly at the home, struggled with Harold McCutcheon, and was seriously injured by shots fired from Harold McCutcheon’s gun, see Erie Insurance Exchange v. Moore, 175 A.3d 999, 1001 (Pa. Super. 2017).