Maryland Complaint for Malicious Prosecution, False Imprisonment, Abuse of Process
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Five fundamental elements form the foundation of malicious use of civil process claims under Maryland law: (1) a prior civil proceeding initiated by the defendant, (2) lack of probable cause for the proceeding, (3) malice, (4) the prior proceeding ended favorably for the plaintiff, and (5) special damages.
The Elements of a Malicious Prosecution Claim A legal action commenced or prosecuted without probable cause. ... The legal action was brought or initiated with malice or malicious intent. Final, favorable termination or resolution of the action (or relevant claims) in the defendant's favor. ... Legally recognizable damages.
A claim for malicious prosecution requires that the plaintiff demonstrate (1) the defendant brought (or continued to pursue) a claim in the underlying action without objective probable cause, (2) the claim was pursued by the defendant with subjective malice, and (3) the underlying action was ultimately resolved in the ...
Evidence to support a malicious prosecution claim can include photographs, witness statements, legal records related to the first claim and expert testimony.
The primary difference between the two legal actions is that malicious prosecution concerns the malicious or wrongful commencement of an action, while, on the other hand, abuse of process concerns the improper use of the legal process after process has already been issued and a suit has commenced.
For example, in a case where a former employer sought to bring criminal charges to its employee to recover stolen money, while knowing that the employee was not responsible for the theft, the court held the employer liable for abuse of process for initiating criminal charges while knowing that the charges were ...
The Sixth Circuit has recently noted that under Ohio law, the tort of abuse of process has three elements: (1) a legal proceeding has been set in motion in proper form and with probable cause, (2) the proceeding has been perverted to attempt to accomplish an ulterior purpose for which it was not designed, and (3) ...
The elements of abuse of process are (1) the use or misuse of a legal proceeding or process (2) solely for an improper ulterior purpose (3) causing (4) damages. As a practical matter, special damages and punitive damages, if any, must also be proven.
