What is the Legal Standard for Wrongful Arrest?

Before the Thanksgiving holiday we began discussing a new topic on the blog – our recent experiences representing clients on claims of wrongful arrest. We continue the discussion this week by considering the applicable legal standard for deciding these cases. Under New York law, an individual will prevail on a claim of wrongful or false arrest if he/she can show that the arrest was not privileged, meaning the arrest was not based on probable cause. In New York, probable cause to arrest exists when the officers have knowledge or reasonably trustworthy information of facts and circumstances that are sufficient to warrant a person of reasonable caution in the belief that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing a crime.

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