Chiaverini v. City of Napoleon

Although police had probable cause for a minor charge against Chiaverini, the Court held that probable cause for one charge does not defeat a Fourth Amendment malicious prosecution claim based on a separate baseless charge, requiring instead that each be independently evaluated. The Court's analysis focused on the direct causal connection between the unsupported felony charge and Chiaverini's extended detention, treating the felony charge as a discrete Fourth Amendment violation separate from the minor charge. This approach prevented officers from using any colorable charge to insulate fabricated counts from constitutional scrutiny, strengthening accountability across multi-count prosecutions.