 pertinent legislative enactment. It limits the liability of municipalities to injuries suffered through `neglect, carelessness or unskillfulness.' To construe that language to include an action for malicious prosecution would be to expand the words beyond their normal meaning. This we decline to do."
Neighbors, 384 So.2d at 113-14.
This court therefore affirms the holding of Neighbors v. City of Birmingham, 384 So.2d 113 (Ala.1980)that a municipality is immune from a malicious prosecution claim but rejects an extension of Neighbors to provide immunity to claims of false arrest and imprisonment brought under Ala.Code 1975, § 11-47-190. Any language to the contrary contained in Bahakel v. City of Birmingham, 427 So.2d 143 (Ala.1983); Boyette v. City of Mobile, 442 So.2d 61 (Ala.1983); Gore v. City of Hoover, 559 So.2d 163 (Ala.1990); and Brooks v. City of Birmingham, 584 So.2d 451 (Ala.1991), is overruled. In reaching this result, we are not altering or modifying any existing cause of action. We merely state that where a plaintiff alleges a factual pattern that demonstrates "neglect, carelessness, or unskillfulness" the plaintiff has stated a cause of action under Ala.Code 1975, § 11-47-190. Whether the plaintiff's allegations state a cause of action and whether the plaintiff has presented substantial evidence creating a genuine issue of material fact can be evaluated by the trial court upon proper motion. Therefore, we conclude that the trial court properly dismissed the malicious prosecution claim against the city; however, the Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal of the claims alleging false arrest and false imprisonment is reversed.
Franklin also contends that the trial court erred in entering summary judgment for the city on count III, alleging assault and battery. This Court, in City of Birmingham v. Thompson, 404 So.2d 589, 592 (Ala.1981), said:
"This case was submitted to the jury on the theory that an agent of the City of Birmingham had used `excessive force' upon the plaintiff.... That is the equivalent of asse