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Century Insurance Company, Ltd v Hong Kong Entertainment (Overseas) Investments, Ltd [2009] MPSC 4; 2009 MP 4 (12 May 2009)

Notice: This slip opinion has not been certified by the Clerk of the Supreme Court for publication in the permanent law reports. Until certified, it is subject to revision or withdrawal. In any event of discrepancies between this slip opinion and the opinion certified for publication, the certified opinion controls. Readers are requested to bring errors to the attention of the Clerk of the Supreme Court, PO Box 502165 Saipan, MP 96950, phone (670) 236-9715, fax (670) 236-9702, e-mail SupremeCourtClerk@justice.gov.mp.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS

CENTURY INSURANCE COMPANY, LTD.,
Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

HONG KONG ENTERTAINMENT (OVERSEAS) INVESTMENTS, LTD.
DOING BUSINESS AS TINIAN DYNASTY HOTEL & CASINO,
WAGON XY XIONG, WEI JIN AN, WEI HONG FOR HERSELF AND HER
MINOR CHILD WEI YONG TAO AND SHUN LI,
Defendants-Appellants.

SUPREME COURT NO. CV-06-0002-GA
SUPERIOR COURT NO. 05-0061

SLIP OPINION

Cite as: 2009 MP 4

Decided May 12, 2009

G. Anthony Long, Esq., Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, for Defendant-Appellant
John D. Osborn, Esq. (briefed and argued) and Sean F. Frink, Esq., Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, for Plaintiff-Appellee

BEFORE: Miguel S. Demapan, Chief Justice; Alexandro C. Castro, Associate Justice; John A. Manglona, Associate Justice

Manglona, J.:

1 Hong Kong Entertainment (Overseas) Investments[1] (“Tinian Dynasty”) appeals the trial court’s[2] grant of summary judgment on the grounds that the trial court erred in finding that Century Insurance Corporation (“Century Insurance”) was under no duty to defend Tinian Dynasty against claims filed in a federal lawsuit or to pay damages in relation thereto. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM the trial court’s decision.

I

2 In April 2004, Century Insurance issued a public liability insurance policy and an umbrella policy to Tinian Dynasty. In September 2004, Wagon Xy Xiong, Wei Jin An, Wei Hong for herself and her minor child Wei Yong Tao, and Shun Li (collectively “the Wagon litigants”) filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands (the “district court suit”) against Tinian Dynasty seeking damages and other relief stemming from a series of alleged events during a trip to Tinian Dynasty.[3]