What constitutes probable cause to search or arrest?
A case of suspected homicide: A woman is missing. Her husband’s alibi for the time his wife disappeared can’t be corroborated. He admits having a girlfriend. A neighbor calls police to report recent digging in the backyard. When police arrive, the husband is packed and ready to go. Do police have probable cause to arrest him or to obtain a warrant to search the home? Probable cause is a reasonable belief, based on facts, that evidence of a particular crime will be found in a particular place to be searched, or that a particular person is responsible for a particular crime — in this case, homicide. “Mere suspicion” is not enough. The husband’s behavior is merely suspicious. That his alibi can’t be confirmed and that he is involved with another woman do not establish reasonable factual grounds to believe that a crime has been committed, or to link him to it. But the third factor — the backyard digging — is sufficient grounds to get a warrant to search the yard. When the yard is dug up
