COUCH v. CITY OF SHEFFIELD1/9/1998
to sustain a conviction for public intoxication, that same evidence was sufficient to provide the officers with probable cause to arrest the appellant for that offense. See Parks v. Director, State Department of Public Safety, 592 So.2d 1066, 1067 (Ala.Civ.App. 1992) (' n acquittal in a DUI case not synonymous with an unlawful arrest'; 'there be a lawful arrest even though there is a finding of "not guilty" of the offense charged'). ' "Probable cause" does not mean that the officers must possess enough evidence in admissible form to convict the person whom they arrest or search.' Yeager v. State, 281 Ala. 651, 653, 207 So.2d 125, 127 (1967), quoting Patenotte v. United States, 266 F.2d 647 (5th Cir. 1959).
" 'Probable cause exists if facts and circumstances known to the arresting officer are sufficient to warrant a person of reasonable caution to believe that the suspect has committed a crime. "In dealing with probable cause, however, as the very name implies, we deal with probabilities. These are not technical; they are the factual and practical considerations of everyday life on which reasonable and prudent men, not legal technicians act. . . ." " 'The substance of all the definitions of probable cause is a reasonable ground for belief of guilt.' " "Probable cause to arrest is measured against an objective standard and, if the standard is met, it is unnecessary that the officer subjectively believe that he
has a basis for the arrest." The officer need not have enough evidence or information to support a conviction in order to have probable cause for arrest. Only a probability, not a prima facie showing, of criminal activity is the standard of probable cause.'
"Dixon v. State, 588 So.2d 903, 906 (Ala. 1991) (citations omitted), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 1044, 112 S.Ct. 904, 116 L.Ed.2d 805 (1992). An officer need not have enough evidence or information to support a conviction to have probable cause to arrest. See Brinegar v. United States, 338 U.S. 160, 175, 69 S.Ct. 1302, 1310, 93 L.Ed. 1879 (1949). ' nly the probability, and not a prima facie showing, of criminal activity is the standard of probable cause.' Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 410, 419, 89 S.Ct. 584, 590, 21 L.Ed.2d 637 (1969)."
Notwithstanding the fact that Couch was later acquitted of the public intoxication charge, the following undisputed facts, which were known to Lesley on the morning of the arrest, are sufficient to extend qualified immunity to Lesley: 1) The Stagecoach lounge was a known hangout for drug users and drug traffickers; 2) Sheffield police officers had been called to the lounge many times to deal with intoxicated patrons, to investigate property damage, etc.; 3) the owner of the lounge had requested that Sheffield police officers keep a close watch on his premises; 4) Lesley observed Couch and Berryman outside the lounge in an area where Lesley knew, from past experience, drug using and dealing had gone on before; 5) Couch's eyes were glazed and red and he appeared unbalanced and nervous during his conversation with Lesley outside the lounge; 6) Couch was directly beside and conferring with Berryman, who was heavily intoxicated and smelled of marijuana. From Lesley's perspective, Couch appeared to smell of, and to be high on, marijuana, in the middle of the night, at a lounge with a history of disturbances by intoxicated patrons, and he appeared to pose a danger to himself, to someone else at the lounge, or to someone's property. Couch's version of the incident is not sufficient, standing alone, to create a fact question as to whether Lesley could have reasonably believed that Couch had committed a crime and, thus, to take Lesley out from under the protection of the qualified immunity
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