Probable cause

"Probable cause" may be defined to be an apparent state of facts found to exist upon reasonable inquiry, (that is, such inquiry as the given case renders convenient and proper,) which would induce a reasonably intelligent and prudent man to believe, in a criminal case, that the accused person had committed the crime charged, or, in a civil case, that a cause of action existed.

Alsop v. Lid-den, 130 Ala. 548, 30 South. 401; Brand v. Hinchman, 68 Ml chi 590, 36 N. W. 664. 13 Am. St. Rep. 362 ; Mitchell v. Wall, ill Mass. 497; Driggs v. Burton.

44 Vt. 146; Wansei v. Wyckoff, 9 Hun (N. Y.) 179; Lacy v. Mitchell, 23 Ind. 67; Hutchinson v. Wenzel, 155 Ind. 49, 56 N. E. 845. "Probable cause," in malicious prosecution, means the existence of such facts and circumstances as would excite the belief in a reasonable mind, acting on the facts within the knowledge of the prosecutor, that the person charged was guilty of the crime fur which he was prosecuted.

Wheeler v. Nesbitt, 24 How. 544 , 16 In Ed. 765.