Boyd v. Kerr

Citations

• 216 Pa. 259
• 65 A. 674
• 1907 Pa. LEXIS 795

Syllabus

<p>Malicious prosecution — Probable cause — Reasonable grounds of belief— Evidence.</p> <p>In an action for malicious prosecution the question is not whether the person charged with a crime was guilty, but what were the indications of his guilt. The test is the prosecutor’s belief of the existence of probable cause based on reasonable grounds.</p> <p>Where there has been a failure to show a want of probable cause, it is the duty of the court to enter a nonsuit or to direct a verdict for the defendant. If the facts are in dispute, their ascertainment is of course for the jury. But what is probable cause and whether it exists under an admitted or clearly established state of facts is a question of law for the court.</p> <p>In an action for malicious prosecution a nonsuit is properly entered where it appears from the plaintiff’s own case that the defendants acted, from knowledge that a fire apparently of incendiary origin had occurred, that two persons only, plaintiff and a friend, were known to have been in a position where it was possible to have caused it, and that the plaintiff might have a motive because of insurance on property, and had given an improbable explanation of what he exhibited as a prior attempt of someone to set fire to his property.</p>