Lawson v. Kroger Co.

BOGGS, Circuit Judge.

Kroger appeals from a jury decision awarding Terrence Delaney Lawson $40,000 in a suit for malicious prosecution. Because we hold that there exists no cause of action for negligent malicious prosecution under Tennessee law, as Lawson pled, we reverse.

I

A woman calling herself Terry L. Lawson went to the Johnson City, Tennessee, Kroger food store on two occasions on January 29, 1990, and wrote a personal check for the amount of her purchase on both occasions. The first check was approved by a cashier, who wrote down the numbers of a Citibank credit card and a Tennessee…