Smith v. Harford Mutual Insurance Co.

*141OPINION

SANDERS, Presiding Judge (E.S.).

The Plaintiff has appealed from a directed verdict in his suit for malicious prosecution against the Defendants in connection with a fire that destroyed Oak Ridge Motor Company in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

The Oak Ridge Fire Department responded to a blaze at Oak Ridge Motor Company on December 1, 1981, and reported the origin of the blaze as being suspicious. The fire burned the showroom and garage of the business, which was owned by Danny Schultz. Shortly after the fire Jess Hodge, the State Fire Marshal, investigated the fire scene and took samples for…