From: John Francis
Also, rather significantly (IMO), the accused was *not* "acquitted
of all charges" - he was released without any charges being filed.
According to a quote appearing in the legal blog that the first blog
linked to, he said he was "acquitted by a jury"
That often happens when the first-level sanity check (the DA,
public prosecutor, or whatever) thinks that the cops were wrong.
Unfortunately, you can still be arrested (and held for up to 24
hours) for nothing other than "contempt of cop". And while you
have to be released or charged, there are all sorts of interesting
loopholes when it comes to getting your property back.
A case that's just making headlines again here in the SF Bay Area
mentioned in passing that a suspect who was arrested, but never
charged, was still (several years later) without his car, which
had been impounded as evidence in an ongoing investigation.
While it does happen, I expect in the SF Bay Area case you cite, the
"suspect" will eventually get his property returned AND receive some
compensation for his trouble.
EVENTUALLY
Am I correct that the case is currently "making headlines again" because
he's suing whatever law enforcement agency and the corresponding
government for damages and the case is coming to trial soon?
(e.g. SF Police Dept & City of SF; could be Oakland; could be ... )
There's no way a court can give you back your wasted years, but they can
make the jurisdiction involved pay out the wazoo for having screwed you
over.
And it's bad publicity for the jurisdiction too, because the taxpayers
don't like seeing their taxes diverted having to redress police misconduct.
If the guy wins, SF (or whoever) is at least going to be looking for a
new Chief of Police. Other high ranking officers in the department
involved will likely also be looking for new employers.
Which will probably deter this kind of corruption for a couple of years
until some clever asshole comes up with a new twist on how to screw the
accused.
Lord Acton's dictum and all that.
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