Opinion ID: 1680227
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Did the lower court err in refusing Instructions D-21, D-21-A, and D-23?

Text: Instruction D-21 would have instructed the jury that a conviction in City Court is conclusive evidence of the existence of probable cause for an arrest in the absence of fraud, perjury, or other corrupt means of obtaining the conviction, even if the conviction is later reversed on appeal. Instruction 21-A instructed the jury that a conviction in city court is conclusive evidence of the existence of probable cause for an arrest, even if the conviction is later reversed on appeal. Those instructions do not correctly state the law and were properly refused. Pugh v. Easterling, supra . Instruction D-23 would tell the jury that, although plaintiff was convicted in the city court and later acquitted in county court, the city court conviction was prima facie evidence that probable cause existed, unless the plaintiff proved by a preponderance of the evidence that probable cause did not exist. After all the evidence was adduced, the defendant's prima facie case disappeared and the issue was for the jury to decide upon all the evidence before it. There was no error in refusing the instruction. Allen v. Ritter, 235 So.2d 253 (Miss. 1970).