Mccain v. Andrews
| Citation | 139 Fla. 391,190 So. 616 |
| Parties | McCAIN v. ANDREWS et al. |
| Decision Date | 21 July 1939 |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Florida |
Error to Circuit Court, Duval County; Bayard B. Shields, Judge.
Action by J. L. McCain against F. L. Andrews and the City of Jacksonville, a municipal corporation, for malicious prosecution. Judgment for defendants, and plaintiff brings error.
Affirmed.
COUNSEL Will O. Murrell and Edgar W. Waybright, Jr. both of Jacksonville, for plaintiff in error.
Austin Miller and Gov. Hutchinson, both of Jacksonville, for defendants in error.
Plaintiff in error, J. L. McCain, instituted a common law action in the Civil Court of Record for Duval County against defendants in error to recover damages for malicious prosecution. A demurrer to the declaration was sustained and the cause was thereafter dismissed by the plaintiff. A new action was brought in the Circuit Court on the same ground and the declaration was held bad on demurrer. Plaintiff declined to plead further, final judgment was entered for defendant and plaintiff took writ of error.
The sole question we are called on to answer is whether or not a municipal corporation is liable for the torts of its officers or agents committed in the exercise of a governmental function imposed in the interest of the public.
The plaintiff in error addresses the major portion of his brief to the question of the sufficiency of his declaration and relies on Kaufman v. City of Tallahassee, 84 Fla 634, 94 So. 697, 30 A.L.R. 471; and Maxwell v Miami, 87 Fla. 107, 100 So. 147, 33 A.L.R. 682, to support his contention. He doesn't say much about the real issue in the case.
The cases he relies on discuss the distinction between governmental and ministerial or corporate functions laid on a municipality, and point out that these sometimes overlap, and can hardly be distinguished, but we do not understand them to hold that the municipality is liable for the torts of its agents when in the performance of strictly governmental duties.
In the case at bar we are not confronted with this difficulty. We have here a case in which the city of Jacksonville employed the defendant in error, F. L. Andrews, for the purpose of investigating fires of an incendiary origin and to secure warrants, and prosecute such as he deemed to be guilty. Under this authority, the plaintiff in error was on investigation by Andrews prosecuted for burning an automobile with intent to defraud an insurance company. The charge was dismissed by the trial court and he brought this action.
It is not charged that Andrews was not acting within the scope of his employment. It is charged that the prosecution was maliciously done, and that plaintiff was injured in his name and business. There is no specification as to the manner in which he was injured. Neither is it charged that Andrews was acting for the city in its proprietary capacity.
The duty imposed on Andrews was clearly that of preserving the peace. Police regulations are not imposed by the city in its corporate or ministerial capacity, but they are imposed in the interest of the people as a governmental function. This Court is committed to the doctrine that the city is not liable for ...
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City of Coral Gables v. Giblin, 59-643
...it is important to note that cases establishing the immunity of a municipality from liability for malicious prosecution (McCain v. Andrews, 139 Fla. 391, 190 So. 616), or for wrongful exercise of legislative functions (Elrod v. City of Daytona Beach, supra), or for wrongful exercise of judi......
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Calbeck v. Town of South Pasadena, 2052
...it is important to note that cases establishing the immunity of a municipality from liability for malicious prosecution (McCain v. Andrews, 139 Fla. 391, 190 So. 616) or for wrongful exercise of legislative functions (Elrod v. City of Daytona Beach, supra), or for wrongful exercise of judic......
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Town of Palm Beach v. Vlahos
...... supra, was again reaffirmed. See Brown v. Town of. Eustis, 92 Fla. 931, 110 So. 873; Ballard v. City of. Tampa, 124 Fla. 457, 168 So. 654; McCain v. Andrews. and City of Jacksonville, 139 Fla. 391, 190 So. 616. In. our recent case of Ide v. City of St. Cloud, 150. Fla. 806, 8 So.2d 924, it ......
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City of Miami v. Bethel
...by employees engaged in governmental functions is derived from the common law which was adopted by the Lagislature. McCain v. Andrews, 139 Fla. 391, 190 So. 616; Swanson v. City of Fort Lauderdale, 155 Fla. 720, 21 So.2d 217; Bradley v. City of Jacksonville, 156 Fla. 493, 23 So.2d 626. Also......