California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Boissard, 5 Cal.App.4th 972, 8 Cal.Rptr.2d 738 (Cal. App. 1992):
In this case, the uncontradicted evidence established that defendant identified himself to the deputy as "John Victor Bouschard" and that is not defendant's name. Also uncontradicted is the deputy's testimony describing the events he observed which caused him to believe defendant was not the person he claimed to be. Probable cause to arrest for an offense committed in an officer's presence deals in probabilities and does not require a prima facie showing of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Accordingly, if the events described by the deputy "would lead a man of ordinary care and prudence to believe or to entertain a strong suspicion" (People v. Hernandez, supra, 47 Cal.3d at p. 341, 253 Cal.Rptr. 199, 763 P.2d 1289) that defendant was not "John Victor Bouschard," the fact that the deputy did not learn defendant's actual identity until after the arrest is irrelevant to our consideration of the reasonableness of the deputy's belief.
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