Court Opinion

ID: 9724053
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 10:42:41.49854+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:54.833245
License: Public Domain

HENDERSON, Justice
(concurring in result).
I concur with the majority opinion on the affirmance of the trial court’s rulings on summary judgment. However, I wish to elaborate that the commencement (or non-commencement) of a judicial proceeding is not a question of fact to be determined by a jury; it is a matter of law, a decision left to the judicial tribunal. See Jackson v. District of Columbia, 710 F.Supp. 13 (D.D.C.1989); Miami Herald Pub. Co. v. Ferre, 636 F.Supp. 970 (S.D.Fla.1985). It glaringly appears that no judicial proceeding was instituted. There was no prosecution for forgery.
A question of fact is for the jury. Bogh v. Beadles, 79 S.D. 23, 107 N.W.2d 342 (1961). A question of law is for the trial court to determine. In re SDDS, 472 N.W.2d 502, 507 (S.D.1991). Therefore, I am not in accord with the ratio decidendi of the majority opinion.