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Guthrie v. Florida Power & Light Co.
Citations: 460 So. 2d 1032; 10 Fla. L. Weekly 110; 1985 Fla. App. LEXIS 11832Docket: No. 84-1685
Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida; January 1, 1985; Florida; State Appellate Court
William and Walter Guthrie appealed two partial summary judgments favoring Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) regarding claims of malicious prosecution and abuse of process. The trial court's findings indicate that the events leading to Walter's malicious prosecution claim stemmed from incidents on April 16, 1982, involving William Guthrie and FPL employees. Although Walter was not involved, the State Attorney mistakenly filed criminal charges against him instead of William. These charges were later dismissed against Walter and refiled against William. To establish a claim for malicious prosecution, a plaintiff must prove six elements: (1) a criminal proceeding was initiated against them, (2) the defendant caused or initiated the proceedings, (3) the proceedings concluded in the plaintiff's favor, (4) there was a lack of probable cause for the proceedings, (5) the defendant acted with malice, and (6) the plaintiff suffered damages. The trial court concluded that FPL's employees provided accurate information to the State Attorney, indicating William was the involved party, thus attributing the erroneous charges against Walter to the mistake of the State Attorney’s office, not FPL. The court determined that there were no genuine issues of material fact regarding the causation element of the malicious prosecution claim, leading to the affirmation of summary judgment for FPL on Walter's claim. Additionally, the court found no merit in William's abuse of process claim, affirming the summary judgment in favor of FPL on that matter as well. Overall, the court's decisions were affirmed.