Winters v. Griffis, 40708
| Decision Date | 17 March 1958 |
| Docket Number | No. 40708,40708 |
| Citation | 233 Miss. 102,101 So.2d 346 |
| Parties | C. H. WINTERS v. L. T. GRIFFIS. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Carter & Van Every, Columbus, George F. Henry, Jr., Starkville, for appellant.
L. W. Brown, Starkville, for appellee.
This is an action for damages for malicious prosecution brought by the appellant against the appellee.
The proof showed that a concern by the name of Mississippi Home Builders was being operated by Mr. and Mrs. George Eakin and the business had not prospered. It was engaged in the manufacture of ammunition boxes under a subcontract from Jackson Shell Box Company. When a freight car of shell boxes had been manufactured they were inspected by a government inspector and were shipped to destination and the Mississippi Home Builders was required to draw a draft on the Jackson Shell Box Company to which was attached the inspection report, the invoice and the bill of lading, and these drafts were payable at Deposit Guaranty Bank and Trust Company in Jackson pursuant to authorization from that bank when the instructions were complied with.
It is not clear from the record as to who was the owner of Mississippi Home Builders, but the record does show that a man by the name of Ballard either owned it or was interested in it in some manner. The company was operating in Oktibbeha County and when the Eakins had gotten rather heavily involved Mr. Ballard, along with the appellee Griffis, took over the business and place Mr. Winters in charge as the plant foreman, and he operated it for several weeks. Evidently the appellee did not own any interest in the plant but the plant was buying all of its lumber from him and was indebted to him in the sum of approximately $15,000 when Winters took over. Winters had nothing to do with the office management of the concern except that he was authorized to sign the checks which were issued against the bank account in Starkville, and this bank account was set up under the name of Mississippi Home Builders Special Account. On October 24, 1953, Winters drew a salary check for $200 payable to himself and went to the place of business of Mr. Griffis and asked to have it cashed. It happened that Griffis had recently made a deposit and did not have sufficient cash on hand to cash the check and instructed his bookkeeper to go to Mr. McKinnon's store and get the cash on it. This was done and upon his return the bookkeeper delivered the money to Winters.
According to the testimony of the bank president, there was a sufficient amount on deposit in the special account to pay the check at that time, but other checks were outstanding or became outstanding in a short time thereafter. McKinnon was slow about getting his check to the bank for payment and when it finally reached the bank, the other checks had already reduced the balance on deposit to an amount insufficient to take care of the check and it was accordingly not paid by the bank. Later McKinnon called on Griffis to make good his endorsement on the check and he did so by paying McKinnon the amount thereof. And Griffis has never yet been able to collect the $200 out of Winters. In fact Winters discontinued his employment with the Mississippi Home Builders a short time thereafter.
Griffis later went to see his private attorney and according to the record disclosed to his private attorney the full facts in connection with the whole transaction and the attorney advised him that Winters was subject to prosecution under the Mississippi bad check law and also advised him to see the district attorney about the matter. He saw the district attorney and according to the record disclosed the entire facts with reference to the transaction to the district attorney, and the district attorney had him come before the grand jury and disclose the situation to the grand jury, and at the May 1954 Term of circuit court the grand jury returned an indictment against Winters. Winters was not arrested and placed under bond for his appearance until May 31, 1954, after the term of court had adjourned.
Before the next term of court Griffis had a heart attack and his physician advised him to never again climb the stairway to the courtroom in Starkville. And thereafter Griffis did not return to court to prosecute the case and on at least one occasion he talked to the circuit judge about his physical condition and was excused from attending court at that time. In fact the first time that Griffis ever again climbed the stairway to the courtroom was on the day when this suit was tried. At the trial the jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff Winters for $1, but before the term of court...
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Hyde Construction Co., Inc. v. Koehring Company
...of probable cause to bring the prosecution or by other circumstances. Harvill v. Tabor, supra, 128 So.2d at 864-865; Winters v. Griffis, supra, 101 So.2d at 348; Brown v. Watkins, supra, 56 So.2d at 891; Odom v. Tally, 160 Miss. 797, 134 So. 163 (1931). It is elementary that the defendant m......
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Royal Oil Co., Inc. v. Wells
...necessary for the plaintiff to show circumstances from which the absence of probable cause may be inferred. Winters v. Griffis, 233 Miss. 102, 107, 101 So.2d 346 (1958). If the evidence is such that the jury could have believed the prosecution was instituted without probable cause, the judg......
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Bankston v. Pass Road Tire Center, Inc., 07-CA-59544
...Royal Oil Co., 500 So.2d at 443; Owens v. Kroger Co., 430 So.2d 843 (Miss.1983). This Court has stated, in Winters v. Griffis, 233 Miss. 102, 101 So.2d 346 (1958), the The test of liability in an action for malicious prosecution is: Was defendant actively instrumental in putting the law in ......
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Trilogy Communications v. Times Fiber Commun.
...absence of probable cause for the prosecution is circumstantial evidence of malice. Royal Oil, 500 So.2d at 444; Winters v. Griffis, 233 Miss. 102, 101 So.2d 346, 348 (1958); and Harvill v. Tabor, 240 Miss. 750, 128 So.2d 863 (1961) (malice can be inferred from a palpable lack of probable c......