By John R. Byrne
If you're charged with multiple crimes, arrested and detained, and it later turns out that the authorities lacked probable cause to charge you with at least one of those crimes, do you have a colorable malicious prosecution claim? After all, if probable cause still existed for charging you with the other crimes, what's the harm? The Supreme Court found that there may well be harm, reversing the Sixth Circuit, which had erected a categorical barrier to malicious prosecution claims in cases where at least one charge was supported by probable cause.
Shout out here to the Eleventh Circuit, which had reached the same conclusion back in 2020 (Judge Pryor wrote that opinion, which the Court cites).
The Supreme Court chose to not dip its toes into the murky causation waters: if at least one valid charge exists, how can a plaintiff establish causation? Apparently, the parties and amicus curiae proposed three different views on how one might prove causation. Opinion below.
Big game tonight for the Panthers against the Edmonton Oilers. Let's hope they can bring the cup home!
23-50_n648 by John Byrne on Scribd
The more interesting line in the opinion is that a charge which is unfair and results in longer incarcerations than one that is gives rise to a claim.
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