GIOCONDA WEBB N/K/A GIOCONDA WEBB MORGAN AND WEBB INTERNATIONAL, INC. N/K/A MORGAN INTERNATIONAL REALTY, INC., APPELLANTS,
v.
DAISY MURPHY, APPELLEE
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The court held that the jury verdict awarding damages for malicious prosecution was supported by sufficient evidence.
[1] Malicious prosecution requires proof that a criminal proceeding was commenced or continued against the plaintiff, that the defendant commenced or caused the commencement…
[2] A jury's determination that a defendant caused the commencement and continuation of criminal proceedings without probable cause is supported by sufficient competent evide…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA real estate salesperson was charged with grand theft after allegedly stealing a lease deposit, but the charges were dismissed. She then sued her emp…
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BASKIN, Judge.
Gioconda Webb Morgan [Webb-Morgan] and Morgan International Realty, Inc. [Morgan Realty] appeal a final judgment entered pursuant to a jury verdict awarding Daisy Murphy damages in a malicious prosecution action. The jury awarded Mur phy $80,000 in compensatory damages against Webb-Morgan and Morgan Realty and $75,000 in punitive damages against Morgan Realty. We affirm.
Murphy, a real estate salesperson employed by Morgan Realty, filed an action for malicious prosecution in which she alleged that appellants instigated the filing of a criminal proceeding against her. In the criminal case, Murphy was arrested and charged with grand theft for allegedly stealing $700 from a $1700 lease deposit she received from a client. The court ruled the evidence insufficient and dismissed the charges. The dismissal led to Murphy’s present action for malicious prosecution in which she prevailed. Appellants maintain that Murphy failed to prove all the elements of malicious prosecution.
Proof of malicious prosecution depends on the establishment of six elements:
(1) a criminal proceeding was commenced or continued against the plaintiff; (2) the defendant commenced or caused the commencement of such proceedings; (3) the criminal proceeding had a bona fide termination in the plaintiff’s favor; (4) there was no probable cause for commencing criminal proceedings; (5) the defendant acted with malice; and (6) the plaintiff suffered damage.
Guthrie v. Florida Power & Light Co., 460 So. 2d 1032, 1033 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985); Kalt v. Dollar Rent-A-Car, 422 So. 2d 1031, 1032 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982); Weissman v. K-Mart Corp., 396 So. 2d 1164, 1167 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981); Gatto v. Publix Supermarket, Inc., 387 So. 2d 377, 380 n. 4 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980). Appellants argue that Murphy failed to prove the second and fourth elements. We disagree. Finding that the record contains sufficient competent evidence to support a jury determination that appellants caused the commencement and continuation of criminal proceedings not based upon probable cause and that appellants’ remaining arguments lack merit, we affirm.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Morgan Int'l Realty, Inc. v. Dade Underwriters Ins. Agency, Inc., 617 So. 2d 455 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993)…party to this appeal, successfully sued the insureds for malicious prosecution. The jury verdict awarded her $80,000 in compensatory damages against Morgan and Morgan Realty, and $75,000 in punitive damages against Morgan Realty. See Webb v. Murphy, 471 So. 2d 1289 (Fla. 3d DCA1985) (affirming the jury verdict). Thereafter, the insureds filed suit against their insurer for negligently failing to procure liability insurance for malicious prosecution, seeking as damages the costs of defending the Murphy suit and…
Authorities Cited
- Meyer Weissman and Anna Weissman v. K-Mart Corp., 396 So. 2d 1164 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981)
- Gatto v. Publix Supermarket, Inc., 387 So. 2d 377 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980)
- Marwin S. Cassel v. I. R. E. Fin. Corp., 387 So. 2d 377 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980)
- Kalt v. Dollar Rent-A-Car, 422 So. 2d 1031 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982)
- Guthrie v. Fla. Power & Light Co., 460 So. 2d 1032 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)