A. A reasonable ground to suspect that a person has committed or is committing a crime.
Listen to pronunciationLegal Definition -
1. Criminal Law. A reasonable ground to suspect that a person has committed or is committing a crime or that a place contains specific items connected with a crime.
2. Torts. A reasonable belief in the existence of facts on which a claim is based and in the legal validity of the claim itself.
Black's Law Dictionary® Eighth Edition © 2004
Current Usage -
ALBEMARLE - Betty Neumar, held in the Stanly County jail and charged with solicitation to commit murder, is scheduled to appear in court this morning. Neumar, 76, is accused of plotting to kill Thomas Harold Gentry, her fourth husband, who was found shot to death at their Lake Shore Drive home in Norwood on July 14, 1986. Neumar was allegedly out of town at the time, and no suspects were convicted of Gentry’s murder. According to state law, as a defendant in a felony case, Neumar, who has not yet been indicted, has a statutory right prior to an indictment to a probable cause hearing in district court. At a probable cause hearing, the district court must resolve whether or not probable cause exists to believe that the charged offense was committed, and whether or not probable cause exists to believe that the defendant committed the offense. If the district court judge finds probable cause as charged, Neumar must be transferred to the superior court, and the state still must seek an indictment, he said. However, if the district court finds no probable cause, the case must be dismissed. Independent Tribune, July 14, 2008 Kimberly Kinnecom