Court Opinion

ID: 9647868
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 13:53:33.512401+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:11:54.361441
License: Public Domain

DROWOTA, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent.
I.
The majority opinion has correctly set forth the law in Tennessee regarding the respective provinces of judge and jury in determining the existence or nonexistence of probable cause. As was stated by this Court in Cohen v. Cook, 224 Tenn. 729, 462 S.W.2d 499 (1970), when the facts are undisputed and only one inference can be drawn from those facts the trial judge decides the issue alone, and when the facts are in dispute, the trial judge must devise a way to let the jury decide the “factual” questions while retaining for himself the question of whether the facts found constitute probable cause. The majority opinion correctly states that this rule has been with us since at least 1812. See Kelton v. Bevins, 3 Tenn. 90, 97 (1812).
Two separate decisions on the same case by two separate appellate courts have caused confusion on whether probable cause is a question of law for the court or a question for the jury. The Court of Appeals in Cohen v. Cook, 62 Tenn.App. 292, 302, 462 S.W.2d 502, 507 (1969), held “[wjhere reasonable men might reach different conclusions from undisputed facts, the question is for the jury.” In the case at bar the Court of Appeals relied upon the above language in overruling the defendants’ contention that it was error to submit the question of probable cause to a jury. The Supreme Court in Cohen v. Cook held the issue was one of law for the court, and the Court of Appeals in this case has characterized such language as dictum.
The rule set out by the Supreme Court in Cohen v. Cook, stated in various ways, appears to be the law in the majority of states:
Whether the want or existence of probable cause is to be determined by the court or by the jury depends in the first place on the existence or nonexistence of a conflict in the evidence on the specific point, and in the second place, if the evidence is conflicting, on the view entertained in the particular jurisdiction.
*304If there is no dispute as to the facts, and the facts themselves do not lead to different inferences, the question whether or not there was probable cause for the institution of the former proceedings is to be decided by the court alone, as a matter of law; in such a situation the court has no need for a finding of a jury.
If there is a conflict in the evidence as to the circumstances out of which the prosecution arose, the overwhelming preponderance of authority appears to sustain the general rule of the common law that the question what facts, and whether particular facts, constitute probable cause is a question of law which the judge must decide on the facts admitted or found to exist in the particular case, and which it is error for him to submit to the decision of the jury. Under this rule, the jury are to find what facta do exist when the evidence is conflicting or leads to different inferences, but the question whether on the facts as proved and found probable cause has or has not been made out is one which the court must decide; for this reason, probable cause has often been said to be a mixed question of “law and fact.”
52 Am.Jur.2d Malicious Prosecution § 184 (1970).
See also, 54 C.J.S. Malicious Prosecution § 97 (1948), Restatement (Second) of Torts § 673(l)(c) and comment e (1976), and 87 A.L.R.2d 183 (1960).
The determination, however, of what the law has been in Tennessee or is in many of our sister states should not end the inquiry. We must concern ourselves with what is the better rule. In my judgment, the question of probable cause should be for the jury. Dean Prosser tells us that probable cause has been defined as, “a reasonable ground of suspicion, supported by circumstances sufficient to warrant an ordinarily prudent man in believing the party is guilty of the offense.” Prosser, The Law of Torts 841 (4th ed. 1971). Cotton v. Underwood, 223 Tenn. 122, 126, 442 S.W.2d 632, 634 (1969), also speaks of probable cause as reasonable grounds to believe the party prosecuted is guilty. The Tennessee Pattern Jury Instructions — Civil, issued by the Tennessee Judicial Conference contains, curiously enough, a jury charge on probable cause:
To constitute probable cause for the criminal prosecution of [civil action against] the plaintiff in this case, the evidence must establish that the defendant actually believed, and had a reasonable basis for his belief, that the plaintiff performed the act charged. That is, he must have examined the situation in the same manner as an ordinarily prudent man would have done.
Tennessee Pattern Jury Instructions — Civil, 8.23.
Thus, the heart of the inquiry as to whether or not probable cause exists is reasonableness. The crucial question is whether the defendant was reasonable in his belief that the accused committed the crime.1 Inextricably bound up with that question is the reasonableness of the defendants’ examination of the situation. See Thompson v. Schulz, 34 Tenn.App. 488, 240 S.W.2d 252 (1949).
By way of example, in the instant case Mr. Williams did not see on initial examination without a magnifying glass the numeral (1) one in 12:37 p. m. which was on the back of the forged check and also failed to resolve the six minute discrepancy between the time he read on the check and the time shown on Miss Lewis’s picture. The result in this case turns, as evidenced by the majority opinion’s discussion, upon the reasonableness of Mr. Williams’s investigation. This is a determination properly made by a jury because it is one about which reasonable minds could differ.
*305The rule restated by the majority of this Court has been criticized in some jurisdictions as an, “.. . apparent anomaly, on the ground that it invests the judge with power to determine what is ordinarily, if not always, really a question of fact to be determined on the facts and circumstances of the particular case.” 52 Am.Jur.2d Malicious Prosecution § 184 (1970), see cases cited at notes 4 and 5. As Dean Prosser states:
The courts have always distrusted malicious prosecution actions, and have retained a strong hand over them. For this reason the existence of probable cause, which involves only the conduct of a reasonable man under the circumstances, and does not differ essentially from the determination of negligence, usually is taken out of the hands of the jury, and held to be a matter for decision by the court. That is to say, the court will determine whether upon the appearances presented to the defendant, a reasonable man would have instituted the proceedings. The disingenuous reason sometimes is given, that since the authority to bring criminal prosecutions is derived from the law, it is for the law to determine what will constitute justification for it.
Prosser, The Law of Torts 846-47 (9th ed. 1971).
One reason widely advanced for the present rule is that juries may have difficulty in distinguishing between the question of the innocence of the accused and the reasonableness of the accuser’s conduct. 87 A.L.R.2d 183, 192 (1960). I cannot agree with this line of reasoning. The issue of whether the instigator of criminal proceedings acted as would an ordinarily prudent person under the circumstances is not materially different from the issues faced by every jury in the whole range of negligence cases.
Moreover, even the approach taken by the majority will often give the jury the opportunity to decide the ultimate question. As pointed out in Cohen v. Cook, 462 S.W.2d 500, when the facts are in dispute the trial judge has two choices. He may require the jury to make special findings of fact and then rule on the issue of probable cause or he may state alternative versions of the facts hypothetically and instruct the jury as to which version of the facts would provide the defendant with probable cause. As discussed, the reason offered for taking this issue away from the jury in the first place is that they will be confused and will not protect the rights of the defendant. Certainly, in using either of the two methods, particularly the latter, the potential for injustice is still present, since the jury still decides the crucial “factual” questions and is keenly aware of what effect their decision will have on the defendant’s liability. In addition, the task of formulating interrogatories or hypothetical fact patterns “... does present to the trial judge a difficult duty ...” Cohen v. Cook, supra at 500.
I find the procedure outlined in Cohen v. Cook, cumbersome, unnecessary, and extremely difficult for judge and jury. The better procedure would be to let the jury decide whether the instigator of criminal proceedings acted reasonably and avoid the difficulties presented by the majority’s approach. As stated in the majority opinion, the issues of malice and punitive damages are issues for the jury:
... malice may be inferred from the fact that a criminal prosecution was brought without probable cause. The inference is not one of law but is a presumption of fact which may be rebutted, thus making malice an issue to be decided by the jury where a criminal prosecution is instituted without probable cause.
I see no good reason to take the issue of probable cause away from the jury and yet require the jury to determine malice and punitive damages.
II.
Had I concurred with the majority’s approach, I would not have affirmed the judgment of the trial court but would have remanded the case to the trial court for a trial as contemplated by Chief Justice Dyer in Cohen v. Cook.
*306The majority opinion after finding that it was error to submit the issue of probable cause to the jury, did not reverse and remand but found such error was not prejudicial. The majority concluded that the evidence on the issue of probable cause was not disputed and clearly showed a lack of probable cause. I cannot agree that the evidence established an absence of probable cause as a matter of law. It cannot be said that only one inference can be drawn from the undisputed facts. On the contrary, there was material evidence upon which reasonable minds could differ and upon which different inferences could be drawn from the evidence. As I interpret Cohen v. Cook, a jury must resolve the face issues, and the trial court must then rule on whether the facts found by the jury established probable cause. The methods described by the Supreme Court in Cohen v. Cook, should have been used in determining whether the defendant conducted a reasonable investigation.
The defendant Williams testified that at the time he swore out the criminal warrant against the plaintiff, he based his belief that she forged the check on (1) the picture, (2) the eyewitness identification, and (3) the resemblance of the handwriting. Williams misread the time on the back of the forged check initially because the time printing machine “malfunctioned.” He read the time as 2:37 for he could not see the numeral (1) one with his naked eye.2 Based upon this time, pictures were developed of the teller’s window at the time indicated on the back of the forged check. Williams testified that twenty minutes worth of pictures were developed because it was not unusual for the clock, which is hand set, “to be five, ten, fifteen minutes off one way or the other.” These pictures were shown to the teller who was involved in the transaction. The teller positively identified the individual in the picture as the one who passed the forged check. She had independent recollection of the transaction, and although she did not know the individual’s name, she thought she remembered where she worked. Williams proceeded to the place where the teller thought the individual pictured in the photograph worked and there obtained the identification of the individual as Miss Lewis. Williams obtained a sample of plaintiff’s handwriting. A comparison of the handwriting on the check to that of plaintiff’s handwriting led a bank employee trained in handwriting analysis to conclude that they were written by the same person. Armed with a positive eyewitness identification by an employee who recognized plaintiff and a handwriting comparison, Williams secured a warrant for plaintiff’s arrest.
It was not until much later, when he examined the check under a magnifying glass, that Williams determined that the machine which printed the time of the transaction had malfunctioned and printed 2:37 rather than 12:37, the latter being the actual time of the transaction involving the forged check.
The majority opinion states that “the key to the bank’s investigation of the check-cashing incident was the time the check was cashed.” Under Cohen v. Cook, special questions should have been submitted to the jury to determine whether certain facts were or were not established by the evidence. For example, would an ordinarily prudent person under like or similar circumstances, when examining the forged check in question, conclude that the check was cashed at 12:37 p. m. or 2:37 p. m.? After determining this fact, the jury could then be asked if an ordinarily prudent person had concluded that the check read 2:37 p. m., would he, under the facts and circumstances in this case, be placed on notice that a problem existed when the picture of plaintiff bore the time 2:43 p. m. and not 2:37 p. m. — a six minute discrepancy. These are the types of questions based on the undisputed evidence, upon which more than one inference could be drawn and rea*307sonable minds could differ.3 The answers to these types of questions would reveal to the trial judge whether the defendant had conducted a reasonable investigation and whether the defendant did or did not have probable cause for the prosecution of plaintiff. I feel the majority opinion is in error when it holds as a matter of law that the defendant had no probable cause.
I am also disturbed by the size of the verdict in this case. Plaintiff was awarded $5,000.00 compensatory damages, and $20,-000.00 punitive damages, the total amount sued for. The jury initially returned the following verdict — “We rule for the plaintiff and we rule the maximum.” I feel the award of punitive damages is excessive under the facts and circumstances of this case.

. In Cohen v. Cook, 62 Tenn.App. 292, 302, 462 S.W.2d 502, 507 (1969), Judge Todd states:
What an ordinarily prudent person would do in particular circumstances is a matter upon which the trier of fact must draw upon observation and experience with respect to what is customarily regarded in the community as a prerequisite for the protection of others. Coleman v. Byrnes, 34 Tenn.App. 680, 242 S.W.2d 85 (1950). There is no reason why this principle of negligence law should not apply equally to all questions of reasonableness of conduct.

. From my study and observation of the forged check I too am unable to see the numeral (1) one with my naked eye.

. “If, on the undisputed facts, reasonable men might reach different conclusions as to whether facts amounting to probable cause exist, the existence of such facts is a question to be determined by the jury.” 54 C.J.S. Malicious Prosecution § 97, p. 1089.