Nicholas Mercado appealed a judgment entered for Bobby Swoope in litigation involving conduct by a public employee and the protection afforded by official immunity. The trial court denied Mercado’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and left the judgment in Swoope’s favor intact. The Court of Appeals reversed. It held that the evidence did not authorize a finding of actual malice sufficient to overcome the official-immunity protection. Because the proof did not establish the required constitutional or tort basis for liability, the trial court should have granted Mercado judgment as a matter of law rather than allowing the verdict to stand. The court reversed the judgment in favor of Swoope. Two judges concurred.