1. Criminal law. A reasonable ground to suspect that a person has committed or is committing a crime or that a place contains specific items connected with a crime. • Under the Fourth Amendment, probable cause — which amounts to more than a bare suspicion but less than evidence that would justify a conviction — must be shown before an arrest warrant or search warrant may be issued.
— Also termed reasonable cause; sufficient cause; reasonable grounds; reasonable excuse. Cf. REASONABLE SUSPICION. [Cases: Arrest 63.4(2). C.J.S. Arrest § 22.]
“Probable cause may not be established simply by showing that the officer who made the challenged arrest or search subjectively believed he had grounds for his action. As emphasized in Beck v. Ohio [379 U.S. 89, 85 S.Ct. 223 (1964)]: ‘If subjective good faith alone were the test, the protection of the Fourth Amendment would evaporate, and the people would be “secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects” only in the discretion of the police.’ The probable cause test, then, is an objective one; for there to be probable cause, the facts must be such as would warrant a belief by a reasonable man.” Wayne R. LaFave & Jerold H. Israel, Criminal Procedure § 3.3, at 140 (2d ed. 1992).
2. Torts. A reasonable belief in the existence of facts on which a claim is based and in the legal validity of the claim itself. • In this sense, probable cause is usu. assessed as of the time when the claimant brings the claim (as by filing suit).
