Stanley Westreich v. Walter P. McFarland

BUTZNER, Circuit Judge:

Stanley Westreich appeals from a judgment of the district court denying him recovery against Walter McFarland for malicious prosecution. The district judge, sitting without a jury, held McFarland was not liable because he acted with probable cause and without malice in prosecuting Westréich. We agree that Westreich’s claim was properly denied under the law of Virginia, which governs this diversity action.

Westreich and McFarland along with their associates engaged in protracted litigation in New York over the ownership of apartments in Arlington, Virginia. Just before…