A. Elements
The cause of action of malicious prosecution is
designed to protect our interest in not being sued or
prosecuted unjustly. The elements that must be established
in an action for malicious prosecution are:
(1) The commencement or continuation of a criminal
proceeding by the defendant against the plaintiff;
(2) The termination of the proceeding in favor of the
accused;
(3) The absence of probable cause for the criminal
proceeding; and
(4) Actual malice (which may be inferred from the
absence of probable cause). (Kelley v. Local Union
249, 518 Pa. 517, 521, 544 A.2d 940, 941 (1988);
Colon v. City of New York, 60 N.Y. 2d, 78, 468
N.Y.S.2d 453, 455 N.E.2d 1248 (1983))
B. Commencement or Continuation of a Proceeding
This element requires that charges actually be brought
against the plaintiff through an indictment, an arraignment,
or some other formal proceeding. There can be no
malicious prosecution action if the plaintiff was arrested
but charges were dropped before arraignment. (Stile v. City
of New York, 172 A.D.2d 743, 569 N.Y.S.2d 129 (2d Dept.
1991)) Similarly, in a case where plaintiff was arrested but
released from custody when he posted bail and given an
appearance ticket directing him to appear in court, but the
charges were then dismissed, the court found that the
issuance of an appearance ticket did not provide a sufficient
basis for a malicious prosecution action. (Snead v. Aegis
Sec., Inc., 105 A.D.2d 1059, 428 N.Y.S.2d 159 (4th Dept.
1984))