Tommy Allen v. County of Fresno

MEMORANDUM

Section 1983 plaintiffs Tommy and Brooke Allen (collectively, “the Allens”) appeal the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant Christian Curtice, deputy sheriff for Fresno County. The Allens argue that Deputy Curtice’s decision to arrest them was based on faulty information provided by unreliable student informants and that a genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether Deputy Curtice had probable cause to arrest them. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

The Allens claim that there is a triable issue as to whether Deputy Curtice had probable cause to arrest them. To establish probable cause, the police “must only show that, under the totality of the circumstances, a prudent person would have concluded that there was a fair probability that the suspect had committed a crime.” Hart v. Parks, 450 F.3d 1059, 1066 (9th Cir.2006) (alteration and internal quotation marks omitted). The police do not need to show that probable cause existed to arrest for the crime eventually charged; rather, as long as “the facts known to the arresting officer at the time of the arrest” supported probable cause for any offense, the…