Where plaintiff accused his former business partners of giving false testimony to federal authorities, which led to his indictment for bribery and bid-rigging, the trial court erred in dismissing his malicious prosecution claim against the former partners. Allen v. Berger, No. 1-00-2676, 2002 Ill.App. LEXIS 1266 (1st Dist. Dec. 31, 2002). The appellate court said that while citizens acting in good faith who have probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed should not be deterred from reporting it, when someone instead makes a knowingly false report to a prosecuting officer, the resulting prosecution is attributable to that person and he may be held accountable for the damages that result. Practice tip: What goes around comes around.
