Fix v. First State Bank of Roscoe

Rita Fix (plaintiff) had a life estate in a house on property owned by her son and daughter-in-law, Jeff and Marie. In order to help Jeff and Marie secure a loan from the First State Bank of Roscoe (bank) (defendant), Fix gave Jeff and Marie a warranty deed to the house. To allay Fix’s fears of being displaced if Jeff and Marie defaulted on the loan, the bank promised Fix in writing that Fix could remain in the house for the rest of her life, even if the bank took ownership of the property. After experiencing financial problems, Jeff and Marie conveyed the house and property to the bank in lieu of foreclosure. The bank then sold the property to a third party and tried to eject Fix. Fix, Jeff, and Marie subsequently were indicted in state court in connection with a scheme by which Jeff allegedly sold grain that was covered by the bank’s security interest using Fix’s name, with Fix paying over to Jeff the sale proceeds she received. Jeff pleaded guilty, and the charges against Marie were dismissed, but the charges against Fix remained in limbo despite Fix’s requests that she be charged or cleared. Ultimately, Vaughn Beck (defendant), the state’s attorney who brought the indictments and who also represented the bank civilly, offered to drop the criminal charges against Fix if she agreed to deed the house to the bank. Fix, who already had a claim pending against the bank for the intentional infliction of emotional distress, amended her complaint to add a claim for abuse of process regarding Beck’s alleged use of the criminal charges to improperly further the bank’s interest in the house. Fix settled with Beck. The court granted summary judgment against Fix’s intentional-infliction-of-emotional-distress claim. At trial, the jury found for Fix on her abuse-of-process claim but awarded her no damages. Fix appealed, arguing, among other things, that the abuse-of-process jury charge on damages was mistaken because the court instructed the jury that Fix had to prove that she suffered extreme and disabling emotional distress as a proximate cause of the abuse of process.