Tamika Nashae Davis and Elizabeth Ann Davis v. Prosperity Bank, 383 S.W.3d 795

Davises sued Prosperity Bank for false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, defamation, and related claims arising from a counterfeit-check incident.
Tamika, not a Prosperity Bank customer, presented a $2,900 check at Prosperity Bank to inquire about its validity; check supposedly drawn on First Prosperity Bank.
Bank believed the check counterfeit, contacted the issuing bank, and notified law enforcement; Tamika was arrested and jailed for three days after the DA charged forgery.
Arrest occurred despite the bank not involving its employees in the actual arrest decision; the DA’s sole discretion to prosecute was emphasized.
Bank sought summary judgment on remaining claims; the trial court granted on false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and defamation.
On appeal, the Davises challenged the summary-judgment ruling arguing genuine issues of material fact existed.
The court held that the bank did not instigate the arrest or provide knowingly false information that caused prosecution, and affirmed summary judgment for Prosperity Bank on these claims.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
False imprisonment instigation	Davises claim bank directed arrest	Bank did not direct arrest; DA's discretion controls	No fact issue; no instigation; summary judgment affirmed
Malicious prosecution causation	Bank caused the prosecution by providing false information	Prosecution decisions rested with DA; no false info tied to bank	No evidence bank knowingly supplied false information; no causation; judgment affirmed
Defamation sufficiency	Bank statements to authorities were defamatory	No identifiable defamatory statements presented; arrest not a statement	Defamation claim fails for lack of defamatory publications; judgment affirmed
Frivolous second summary judgment	Second MSJ reused denied arguments	Evidence differed; not frivolous	Second MSJ not frivolous; argument overruled

Rodriguez v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 92 S.W.3d 502 (Tex. 2002) (instigation standards for false imprisonment and reliance on police discretion)
Dangerfield v. Ormsby, 264 S.W.3d 904 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2008) (causation and instigation in false imprisonment context)
King v. Graham, 126 S.W.3d 75 (Tex. 2003) (knowingly providing false information required for malicious prosecution)
Browning-Ferris Indus., Inc. v. Lieck, 881 S.W.2d 288 (Tex. 1994) (elements and causation standards for malicious prosecution)
WFAA-TV, Inc. v. McLemore, 978 S.W.2d 568 (Tex. 1998) (defamation proof standards for private plaintiffs)
Marathon Corp. v. Pitzner, 106 S.W.3d 724 (Tex. 2003) (expert evidence standards in summary judgment)