Mehrban

INTRODUCTION

Defendant and appellant Morse Mehrban (Mehrban) appeals from the trial court’s order denying his special motion to strike filed under the anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) statute, Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16. 1 Mehrban contends that the statutory requirements were met in that the complaint is one arising from protected activity and plaintiff and respondent JSJ Limited Partnership (JSJ) did not demonstrate a probability of prevailing on its causes of action for abuse of process and malicious prosecution. We hold that the litigation privilege bars the claim for abuse of process and that the voluntary dismissal of a claim after a court held that the claim was barred by the doctrine of res judicata was not a favorable termination for purposes of malicious prosecution. Because the motion should have been granted, we reverse and remand the matter to the trial court to grant the motion and to determine whether Mehrban is entitled to an award of attorney fees.

BACKGROUND

A. Garcia’s 2008 Lawsuit

In 2008, Alfredo Garcia filed a complaint against JSJ asserting one cause of action entitled “Violation of Civil Code sections 54…