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

Heading: Did the lower court err in refusing to grant a directed verdict or a peremptory instruction for appellant?

Text: Suits for malicious prosecution are not favored and the courts have held that a clear case must be established. State, for the Use and Benefit of Foster v. Turner, 319 So.2d 233 (Miss. 1975). The elements required to be proved in order to make a case of malicious prosecution are stated in Harvill v. Tabor, 240 Miss. 750, 128 So.2d 863 (1961), as follows: In order to maintain an action for malicious prosecution, the plaintiff must establish the following elements: (1) The institution or continuation of original judicial proceedings, either criminal or civil (the proceeding here is criminal); (2) by, or at the instance of the defendants; (3) the termination of such proceeding in plaintiff's favor; (4) malice in instituting the proceeding; (5) want of probable cause for the proceedings; and (6) the suffering of damages as a result of the action or prosecution complained of. 34 Am.Jur., Malicious Prosecution, Section 6, page 706; 54 C.J.S., Malicious Prosecution, § 4, page 955. 240 Miss. at 753-754; 128 So.2d at 864. The burden of proving a malicious prosecution case by a preponderance of the evidence rests upon the plaintiff. The appellant argues that probable cause for instituting the proceedings, and lack of malice, conclusively appear because appellee was convicted in the city court, even though she was later acquitted in the county court. In Pugh v. Easterling, 367 So.2d 935 (Miss. 1979), this Court discussed previous decisions on malicious prosecution cases and stated: We hold that a conviction is conclusive evidence of probable cause for instituting a criminal prosecution, and a plaintiff, in a suit for malicious prosecution based on a criminal prosecution, must show that the criminal proceeding terminated in his favor as a condition precedent to recovery. 367 So.2d at 938. In Pugh, the Court held that a judgment of the justice of the peace court [now justice court] recited a conviction, which became a final judgment, and it constituted conclusive evidence that probable cause for the criminal prosecution existed and that the plaintiff had no ground for a malicious prosecution suit. The Court also stated we have held that a case is terminated in a plaintiff's favor when the prosecution is abandoned or the affidavit is withdrawn, and that entry of a nolle prosequi in a criminal proceeding terminates the same in favor of the plaintiff. By the same reasoning, a judgment of an appellate court (or a trial de novo) reversing a conviction would be a termination in favor of the plaintiff. We are of the opinion that termination of a criminal proceeding in favor of the defendant in that action simply gives him the right to proceed with a malicious prosecution suit, and, as in other civil suits, he must prove his case by a preponderance of the evidence. Also, conviction in a lower criminal court, although reversed by an appellate court, is prima facie evidence that the prosecuting party had probable cause to proceed with the prosecution, which may be overcome by the defendant's (plaintiff in the civil proceeding) proof. In the case at bar, the conflicting facts presented a question for the jury on the requisites of malicious prosecution, and, the jury having decided the issue in favor of the appellee, the prima facie case made out by the appellant in showing the conviction in city court disappeared. The question of liability was properly submitted to the jury.