Cosgrove Development Co. v. Cafferty

In this action for vexatious suit and for tortious interference with a contractual relationship, which the plaintiffs claimed to the jury, the trial court bifurcated the issues and ordered the question of lack of probable cause 1 tried to the court. Thereafter the court dismissed the action for failure of the plaintiffs to make out a prima facie case.

Probable cause is the knowledge of facts sufficient to justify a reasonable man in the belief that he has reasonable grounds for presenting an action. Paranto v. Ball, 132 Conn. 568, 571, 46 A.2d 6 (1946). Its existence or nonexistence is…