This case is therefore readily distinguishable from
Whitley v. Seibel, 676 F.2d 245 (7th Cir.1982), where the court held that a probable cause finding made in a summary and cursory criminal preliminary hearing did not estop the defendant from later bringing a
§ 1983 claim challenging the “integrity, rather than the sufficiency of the evidence” supporting probable cause. Whitley's
§ 1983 claim alleged that the arresting officer had failed to investigate Whitley's alibi and had misrepresented to prosecuting authorities that he had checked the alibi and found it to be false. However, Whitley's preliminary hearing, unlike Guenther's, was a “summary proceeding”, only addressing the sufficiency, not the integrity of the evidence supporting probable cause. Further, Whitley, unlike Guenther, was unable to discover what was in the prosecutor's arsenal or to appeal the probable cause finding.
Finally, and most significantly, unlike Guenther, Whitley, presumably for tactical reasons, never raised or litigated the issue of the arresting officer's veracity during the preliminary hearing; nor did Whitley raise or litigate the issue of his purported alibi witness.