Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Binns

W.H. “Dub” Arnold, Chief Justice.

Appellant, Walsticappeals e. circuit-court judgment, based upon a jury verdict, awarding appellee, Carolyn Binns, $750,000.00 in compensatory damages and $2,000,000.00 in punitive damages relating to Binns’s abuse-of-process and malicious-prosecution claims against Wal-Mart. On appeal, Wal-Mart contends that the circuit court erred by failing to direct verdicts on both claims because Binns failed to prove (1) the essential elements of the tort of abuse of process, and (2) the elements of the tort of malicious prosecution, namely, lack of probable cause and…