Ray v. First Federal Bank

Opinion

FUKUTO, J.

This appeal concerns the element of favorable termination in the tort of malicious prosecution. The question presented is whether an action is favorably terminated if the trial court grants summary judgment to the defendant based on the statute of limitations, a procedural ground not bearing on the merits, but the reviewing court then affirms the judgment on grounds the action lacks intrinsic merit as a matter of law. We conclude that in such circumstances favorable termination has occurred. Accordingly, we affirm the order under review, which granted a new trial to the…