McCarthy v. De Armit
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Error to the Court of Common Pleas No. 2, of Allegheny county: Of October and November Term 1881, No. 7. Trespass vi et armis, by Harry C. De Armit against William C. McCarthy, Solomon Coulson and five others, to recover damages for the alleged unlawful arrest and imprisonment of the plaintiff. The defendant, McCarthy, was mayor, and the other defendants were police officers of the city of Pittsburgh.
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Error to the Court of Common Pleas No. 2, of Allegheny county: Of October and November Term 1881, No. 7. Trespass vi et armis, by Harry C. De Armit against William C. McCarthy, Solomon Coulson and five others, to recover damages for the alleged unlawful arrest and imprisonment of the plaintiff. The defendant, McCarthy, was mayor, and the other defendants were police officers of the city of Pittsburgh. On the trial, before Kirkpatrick, J., the following facts appeared : The great riots of 1877, in the city of Pittsburgh, were in the month of July. Eor several days prior to July 21st 1877, the…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Trunkey
Prosecutions are presumed to have been properly instituted; and hence, to sustain ail action for malicious prosecution, malice and want of probable cause must both concur and be proved by the plaintiff: Walter v. Sample, 1 Cas. 275; Dietz v. Langfitt, 13 P. F. S. 234.] Probable cause does not depend on the state of the case in point of fact, but upon the honest and reasonable belief of the party prosecuting. Among the numerous attempts to define it are, “ A reasonable ground of suspicion, supported by circumstances sufficient to warrant a cautions man in believing that the party is guilty of…
2Cases cited4 opinions
- Wakely v. HartSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1814
- Cole v. CurtisSupreme Court of Minnesota · 1870
- Vanderbilt v. MathisThe Superior Court of New York City · 1856
- Page v. CushingSupreme Judicial Court of Maine · 1854
3Cited by154 opinions
- Rhinelda M. Bell v. United StatesCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit · 1958
- State v. BurnettSupreme Court of New Jersey · 1964
- Willie E. Pendergrast v. United StatesCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit · 1969
- United States v. Ruth SmithCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit · 1962
- Neal v. Carey Canadian Mines, Ltd.District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania · 1982
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