Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Rick Moore has granted a motion to continue the trial date in the $30 million civil suit against former UVA student George Huguely for the wrongful death of his on- and off-again girlfriend, Yeardley Love, whom he was convicted of murdering in February 2012.
The nearly three-week trial is now set for July 30 to August 17 in 2018.
Meanwhile, two related insurance coverage cases are pending in a federal court in Maryland. One of them is between Huguely’s mother, stepfather and their primary insurance company, Chartis Property Casualty Company, which is balking at covering the convicted murderer for $6 million. The parents also have a $300,000 policy with State Farm. Sharon Love, Yeardley’s mother, has an interest in the case because the money could be used to pay her, though the insurance policies have a criminal exclusion that may not cover Huguely if it is deemed that he intentionally killed Yeardley.
Though she is suing him for wrongful death in Charlottesville, Love filed a brief in Maryland to say that he didn’t actually mean to kill her daughter.
“Both of those insurance carriers seek a ruling that their policies will not have to cover any verdict in the Charlottesville case because they contend that Huguely’s actions were intentional,” wrote Huguely’s Richmond-based attorney in the wrongful death case, Matthew Green, in an email. “Both the estate of Yeardley Love and Huguley are parties in the Maryland cases, and they both contend that there are ample facts showing that Yeardley Love’s death was the result of an accident and not the result of intentional acts on the part of Huguley.”
A motions hearing for summary judgement filed by the insurance companies is scheduled for tomorrow at 9:30am in Maryland.