Luke v. Gulley

Standard for malicious prosecution has two elements: “the plaintiff must prove (1) that the defendant violated his Fourth Amendment right to be free from seizures pursuant to legal process and (2) that the criminal proceedings against him terminated in his favor”; first element requires “proof that the legal process justifying his seizure was constitutionally infirm and that his seizure would not otherwise be justified without legal process”; affidavit merely alleging it was based on detective’s investigation and eyewitness statements, without any details, failed to establish probable cause for arrest on murder charge; even if detective had probable cause to arrest plaintiff without a warrant, detention for 61 days without a warrant and without a judicial probable cause determination was too long to be justified without legal process; proof of the absence of probable cause allows jury to infer malice for malicious prosecution; officer not entitled to qualified immunity.