Essay On Probable Cause

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“Probable Cause is a reasonable belief that a person has committed a crime. The test the court of appeals employs to determine whether probable cause existed for purposes of arrest is whether facts and circumstances within the officer's knowledge are sufficient to warrant a prudent person to believe a suspect has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime.” When determining whether probable cause has been established many questions will arise, not only to see if all necessary procedures were being followed by the officer but also to make sure that the citizen’s rights were not violated. Many of the case laws that have taken place have done so because they feel like in some way or another their rights had been violated or they were not treated fairly these are the cases that change laws or the…show more content…
Another way to establish probable cause is by information given by a “RELIABLE” informant or by corroborating the information given by an informant whose reliability may be questioned. Establishing probable cause by the officers own knowledge mena s that the officer has gathered the information by using “ANY” of the five senses. In example the officer could have “seen” a crime being committed, “hear” shots being fired, “smell” marijuana while in a routine stop, while frisking a suspect and officer may “feel” something unusual or suspicious, or by “taste”. Other things that an officer could use to help him or her to establish probable cause could be knowledge of a person’s reaction when they are being approached by an officer. Nervousness or a story not making sense could be indications that a person may be hiding something or that they have committed a crime. If a person is at an area of high crime late at night it may be an indication that they are up to no good. In Aguilar v. Texas (1964) the courts established a two prong test for determining probable cause on information given by an informant. The first thing is that the reliability of the informant must be

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