Jones v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 16 April 1991
• Docket Number: No. 90-853,90-853
• Citation: 16 Fla. L. Weekly 1074,578 So.2d 783
• Parties: Donna Marie JONES and Tom Ramsey, Appellants, v. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, a foreign corporation, Appellees. 578 So.2d 783, 16 Fla. L. Week. 1074
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 783

578 So.2d 783

Donna Marie JONES and Tom Ramsey, Appellants, v. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, a foreign corporation, Appellees.

No. 90-853.

578 So.2d 783, 16 Fla. L. Week. 1074

District Court of Appeal of Florida First District.

April 16, 1991.

Craig F. Hall of Hall & Hall, P.A., Gainesville, for appellants.

Robert L. Donald, Raymond A. Haas, and Michael A. Roe, of Haas, Boehm, Brown, Rigdon & Seacrest, P.A., Fort Myers, for appellees.

ZEHMER, Judge.

Donna Marie Jones and Tom Ramsey appeal a final judgment in this malicious prosecution action entered pursuant to the trial court's granting of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company's motion for directed verdict. Finding no error, we affirm.

The facts underlying appellants' malicious prosecution action involve a September 8, 1979, collision between an automobile driven by Ms. Jones and an automobile driven by Timothy Fitzpatrick. The Jones vehicle, which belonged to Mr. Ramsey, was transporting four children of the Walkup family, when it was struck head-on by the Fitzpatrick vehicle. Mr. Fitzpatrick was driving on the wrong side of the highway and apparently had been drinking alcohol. The collision caused the death of Mr. Fitzpatrick and three of the Walkup children and serious injuries to the fourth child and Ms. Jones. State Farm insured the Walkup family under an uninsured motorist policy and paid the Walkup family $300,000 in underinsured motorist benefits, thereby becoming subrogated to any rights the Walkups had against persons responsible for the accident. Mr. Fitzpatrick's insurer, Continental Insurance Company, subsequently paid State Farm $15,000 pursuant to these subrogated rights. In return, State Farm gave Continental and its insured a written release, to which neither Ms. Jones nor Mr. Ramsey was party, reciting that State Farm thereby released Mr. Fitzpatrick and his estate, and "all other persons, firms, corporations, associations or partnerships of and from any and all claims, actions, causes of action, demands, rights, damages, costs, loss of service, expenses, and compensation whatsoever" arising from the accident.

On December 2, 1980, State Farm filed suit against Ms. Jones, Mr. Ramsey, and American Fire & Indemnity Corporation, as insurer of Ms. Jones and Mr. Ramsey, alleging that Ms. Jones negligently operated the motor vehicle and that her negligence was the proximate cause of the death of the three Walkup children and the serious injuries to the fourth Walkup child. Ms. Jones, Mr. Ramsey, and American Fire answered the complaint, denying the negligence charge and alleging the affirmative defense of release based on State Farm's release delivered to Continental and its insured. These defendants subsequently filed motions for summary judgment on the issue of negligence and their affirmative defense of release, which were denied. State Farm then filed an amended complaint seeking declaratory relief and reformation of the release based on mutual mistake. After a bifurcated bench trial on the issue of reformation of the release based on mutual mistake, the circuit court entered an amended partial final judgment reforming the release and striking the language in the document purporting to release "all other persons ..." from liability. This ruling was based on findings that a mutual mistake occurred in the drafting of the release and that the parties thereto did not intend to release Mr. Ramsey and Ms. Jones. On appeal, this court reversed the trial court's judgment, holding that there was no evidence to support a finding of mutual mistake and that there was no factual or legal basis to reform the release. American Fire & Indemnity Corp. v. State Farm Auto. Ins. Co., 483 So.2d 122 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986). On remand, the circuit court entered summary final judgment in favor of Ms. Jones, Mr. Ramsey and American Fire, ruling that the resolution of the release defense in their favor entitled them to prevail in the action. The alleged negligence issue was never tried.

On April 26, 1988, Ms. Jones and Mr. Ramsey filed suit against State Farm on theories of malicious prosecution and abuse of process, claiming compensatory and punitive damages. After the circuit court granted State Farm's motion for a partial summary judgment on the abuse of process count, a jury trial was held on the malicious prosecution count. On February 20, 1990, the circuit court granted State Farm's motion for directed verdict, ruling, among other things, that: (1) State Farm's conduct fell short of the conduct that would justify the award of punitive damages; (2) as a matter of law, State Farm had probable cause to pursue the reformation of the release because the fact the trial judge's decision was subsequently reversed by an appellate court does not destroy the effect of that judgment being conclusive evidence of the existence of probable cause; and (3) Ms. Jones and...