Delchamps, Inc. v. James Sterling Bryant.

Summary

The court upheld liability for malicious continuation of a criminal prosecution because the evidence permitted a jury to find that Delchamps proceeded recklessly and without good faith after learning that the plaintiff's alibi had not been conclusively investigated. It rejected Delchamps's challenges to the evidentiary rulings and mistrial decisions, but held that the $400,000 compensatory award was excessive in light of the scant evidence of mental anguish and required a remittitur to $100,000 or a new trial. The separate opinions agreed with the remittitur's result but disputed the majority's treatment of direct evidence of mental anguish; the dissent also would have upheld liability for malicious initiation.