CHI MING CHOW V VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
CHI MING CHOW,
UNPUBLISHED
July 8, 1997
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v
No. 191046
Wayne Circuit Court
LC No. 94-422740 NZ
VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP,
Defendant,
and
K MART CORPORATION and
JILL FEHRENBACH,
Defendants-Appellees.
Before: Cavanagh, P.J., and Doctoroff and D.A. Teeple*, JJ.
MEMORANDUM.
Plaintiff appeals by right summary disposition on his claim for malicious prosecution against
defendants K Mart Corporation and Jill Fehrenbach. This case is being decided without oral argument
pursuant to MCR 7.214(E).
As reflected in this Court’s opinion in People v Chi Ming Chow (No. 138761, June 1, 1993),
plaintiff was prosecuted for larceny under $100 under a township ordinance. For present purposes, it is
accepted that the prosecution was instigated by the appellees. Plaintiff was convicted, but on appeal to
circuit court obtained a new trial on grounds of ineffective assistance of counsel. This Court affirmed the
circuit court’s ruling, but on remand, because evidence crucial to the prosecution had been lost, the case
was nolle prosequied.
Nonetheless, notwithstanding reversal on appeal, which was not for fraud or perjury on behalf
of these appellees, the very fact of conviction conclusively establishes probable cause and thereby
* Circuit judge, sitting on the Court of Appeals by assignment.
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precludes a suit for malicious prosecution. Nawrocki v Eberhard Foods, Inc, 24 Mich
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App 646, 650-651; 180 NW2d 849 (1970).
Affirmed.
/s/ Mark J. Cavanagh
/s/ Martin M. Doctoroff
/s/ Donald A. Teeple
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