PROBABLE CAUSE

(A) When there are grounds for suspicion that a person has committed a crime or misdemeanor, and public justice and the good of the community require that the matter should be examined, there is said to be a probable cause for, making a charge against the accused, however malicious the intention of the accuser may have been. And probable cause will be presumed till the contrary appears. 2. In an action, then, for a malicious prosecution, the plaintiff is bound to show total absence of probable cause, whether the original proceedings were civil or criminal. (B) It is a level (amount and quality)of information police must have (i) prior to making an arrest or (ii) executing a search without a warrant or (iii) that a judge must have prior to signing a search warrant authorizing police to search a suspect. It is the reasonable level the government should have prior to invading the privacy of the lives of citizens, usually described as the facts and events make it more likely than not that a crime has occurred and connected with what or whom is sought by police.