View of Old State Capital from St. Claire Street, Frankfort, Kentucky.
Supreme Court of Kentucky announced 17 decisions on April 2, 2015, with 9 Kentucky Supreme Court opinions designated for publication; 7 attorney/judicial ethics and disciplinary matters were announced; and 7 motions for discretionary review were granted. There were no minutes published in March 2015.
Here is the PDF with links to all of the decisions (published and not published), as well as the disciplinary decisions.
Tort decision of note:
32. Bonita Beaumont vs. Muluken Zeru
SC, Published, Opinion by Justice Keller, Reversing and remanding
Questions Presented:
Motor Vehicle Insurance. Statute of Limitations. KRS 304.39-230(6). Issues involve the date of the last basic reparation payment when the last check as reported by the basic reparations obligor to the plaintiff actually was a replacement check for one previously lost by a different payee.
We recognize Zeru’s arguments that: (1) timing payment to anything other than the insurer’s PIP log will wreak havoc and make it necessary for parties to invade the banking records of insurers and providers; (2) he should be able to rely on statements by Beaumont’s insurer that her PIP benefits were exhausted in August 2009; (3) he should not be disadvantaged because Beaumont’s insurer made an error; and (4) stare decisis requires us to follow the opinions of the Court of Appeals. We address each in turn.
Our holding does tie payment to the PIP log and does not necessitate the invasion of bank records by either party. It simply recognizes the reality that a check that is not presented and ultimately honored does not represent payment.
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