California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Contreras v. State, C056912 (Cal. App. 1/20/2009), C056912 (Cal. App. 2009):
In deciding whether probable cause exists, courts must examine the "totality of the circumstances" at the time of the arrest. (Illinois v. Gates (1983) 462 U.S. 213, 233, [76 L.Ed.2d 527, 545].) "[P]robable cause is a fluid concept turning on the assessment of probabilities in particular factual contexts not readily, or even usefully, reduced to a neat set of legal rules." (Id. at p. 232.) Moreover, a determination of the existence of probable cause turns on an objective analysis of information available to the arresting officer. (Cf. Whren v. United States (1996) 517 U.S. 806, 813 [135 L.Ed.2d 89] ["[s]ubjective intentions play no role in ordinary, probable-cause Fourth Amendment analysis"].)
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