Hart v. Darwish

Where a plaintiff brings a lawsuit against a defendant, and the trial court denies a motion by the defendant for summary judgment or for nonsuit made after the plaintiff's case-in-chief, or the trier of fact returns a verdict for the plaintiff, that ruling or verdict—if decided on the merits and not procured by fraud—establishes as a matter of law that the plaintiff had probable cause to bring its lawsuit and precludes a subsequent claim against the plaintiff for maliciously prosecuting that lawsuit, even if the trier of fact later rules for the defendant or the verdict is later overturned. The Court of Appeal held that this rule applies when the trial court in the prior lawsuit denied the defendant's motion for judgment under Code of Civil Procedure section 631.8 but went on to rule in the defendant's favor. In this case, the court affirmed the trial court's dismissal of the malicious prosecution action. View "Hart v. Darwish" on Justia Law