Cresencia B. Tortuya v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company the Minnesota Mutual Life Insurance Company

24 F.3d 249 NOTICE: Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3 provides that dispositions other than opinions or orders designated for publication are not precedential and should not be cited except when relevant under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. Cresencia B. TORTUYA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY; The Minnesota Mutual Life Insurance Company, Defendants-Appellees. No. 92-16693. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Feb. 9, 1994. Decided May 16, 1994. Before: HUG, FARRIS, and O'SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judges. 1 MEMORANDUM * 2 Appellant Cresencia Tortuya sued Minnesota Mutual Life Insurance Company ("Minnesota Mutual") and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company ("MetLife") to recover life insurance benefits after her husband committed suicide and now appeals the district court's grant of summary judgment to the insurance companies. We affirm. 3 * California law governs appellant's claim against Minnesota Mutual. In order for a suicide exclusion to be valid, the insurer must prove that the decedent acted with suicidal intent. Searle v. Allstate Life Ins. Co., 38 Cal.3d 425, 437-38 (1985). Suicidal intent…