MALICIOUS PROSECUTION RULING: "WELCOME TO THE 21ST CENTURY"

The Illinois Appellate Court just made malicious prosecution cases more difficult with its ruling in Reynolds v. Menard (First District, 2006). The plaintiffs, an elderly couple, were arrested at a Menard's store. They had purchased a number of items which they subsequently returned. When they did so it appears they were given a store credit in excess of their purchases. When they subsequently returned yet again to attempt additional purchases, they were detained and arrested for retail theft. The decision to do so was based in part on "red flags" that popped up in the Menard computer system when the history of the purchases was examined. The plaintiffs refused to plea on the criminal charges, went to trial, and were found Not Guilty. They then sued Menard for Malicious Prosecution. A jury found for Menard and further indicated, via Special Interrogatory, that Menard did not act with malice or without probable cause. The trial court then entered judgment notwithstanding the verdict, and after a hearing on damages, a different jury awarded plaintiffs $76,000. Menard appealed, arguing in part, that that the trial court erred in entering judgment notwithstanding the verdict, as sufficient evidence existed to support the original verdict on behalf of Menard.

The Appellate Court first spelled out the elements of a cause of action for malicious prosecution: 1) the commencement or continuation of an original criminal or civil action by the defendant; 2) the termination of that proceeding in favor of the plaintiff; 3) the absence of probable cause for that proceeding; 4) malice on the part of defendant and 5) damages suffered by plaintiff. The Appellate Court also defined "probable cause" as "...a state of facts that would lead a person of ordinary caution and prudence to believe, or to entertain a suspicion, that the person arrested committed the offense charged." The state of mind of the person commencing the prosecution, rather than the facts, or the guilt/innocence of the accused is at issue. After getting the fundamentals out of the way, the Appellate Court got down to the nitty gritty - that reliance on computer records for probable cause is permissible. "Welcome to the 21st Century. We find that probable cause to believe a person is guilty in the context of a malicious prosecution or false imprisonment actions may be based on information from sources other than personal knowledge, including information from other persons as well as from records kept on store computers. The Court held that there was sufficient evidence from which the jury could have found for the defendant. The judgment of the trial court was reversed and the trial court was directed to enter judgment on the jury verdict finding defendant did not act with malice.