State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. Prinz

After a driver and passenger died in a car accident, the passenger's estate executor Prinz (plaintiff) sued the driver's estate, including an insurance claim against State Farm (defendant); when State Farm sought to introduce testimony from the deceased driver's family and other evidence about his residence at death, the circuit court excluded it under West Virginia's Dead Man's Statute, which barred certain testimony adverse to a deceased party's interests. State Farm appealed.