That verdict is refreshing to see; so many times overzealous officers get away with stuff that would send a private citizen to jail.

Time to sue the county.

jesus hoppin' christ on a pogo stick. wrestle a woman to the ground because she got pissy about being served? get in a fight with her husband because he got mad about his wife being assaulted? these weren't cops; they seem more like playground bullies to me.

sure, so refusing to be served isn't exactly mature and sensible behaviour, either. but that justifies, at most, nailing the papers to their door then asking for a bench warrant when they ignore *that*. no point getting all jackbooted over somebody being a juvenile asshole; one hopes these "cops" learned at least that much from this whole sordid story.

Bobg, what do you exactly mean when you imply that the officers involved are not getting away with stuff that would send a private citizen to jail. The Officers had no right to enter the house under a civil warrant. This is something taught to every officer as basic law needed to perform their jobs. The entered a house, armed, and assaulted the homeowners. It is called Armed Home Invasion. A crime they freely confessed to under oath. And I don't see a rush by the Prosecutor to charge them. Instead, the Prosecutor charged the victims, putting them in jail and making them forfeit thousands of dollars to defend themselves against what the Prosecutor knew was an armed home invasion and armed assault under color of law.

Mark, is absolutely correct. Any other felon doing this would get serious prison time. Make no mistake about it, the cops committed several felonies with weapons specifications. Why are they not on trial?

This is not a refreshing ruling. It just isn't as bad as usual. It still protects the elite and their hired thugs from the law all the rest of us must abide.

Look, here is how it works. The Prosecutor likely had little choice in the matter. He was almost certainly as Assistant DA who was ordered to go after the homeowners. The real people driving this were likely the CLEO and the elected DA.

It sounds like the homeowner kicked the crap out of a couple of donut eaters, which outraged the local force. So, in order to avoid having the FOP oppose him in the next election, the DA ordered Junior to prosecute the case. This has local good old boy politics written all over it. The surprising thing to me is that a Judge didn't even let the thing go to the jury.

The other outrage here is that LEOs were serving civil papers. I repeatedly counsel my federal LEO clients not to serve civil papers. Make the parties hire a process server, I say. For a beat cop, nothing, and I mean NOTHING good comes from serving civil papers.

The verdict I am referring to is the one that the judge delivered that set him free; my major complaint is that he didn't do anything to the police, and he should have dismissed any fines and costs. He and his family should have never have been subjected to the arrest in the first place.

The judge is without authority or jurisdiction to do anything to the LEOs unless 1) the Prosecutor brings a case, which he will not, or 2) the couple brings a civil case against the LEOs and their employer and that case lands in front of this judge. Even if the case does land in front of that same judge, the defense will demand that he recuse himself in view of his previous ruling in the case.

Letalis, we all know how it works. That it works is repugnant to any citizen that believes in and abides the law.

The judge can instruct the prosecuting attorney to pursue charges, I have seen it done.

SA: Perhaps we all do know how it works.

OTOH, perhaps not.

Letalis is absolutely correct. As a now retired 25 year veteran of the NYPD - I learned early in my career that an officer NEVER voluntarily assists or served a civil paper. As he says - that's what a Process Server is for. Further, after my retirement I worked as a Private Investigator who on occasion was required to serve papers in civil matters.

It is well known to "professionals" that the service of civil papers in NO way authorizes entry onto the premises of the person to be served, nor authorizes arrest of the person. All they are is a demand by a civil judge to appear in court to answer a NON-CRIMINAL issue.

It's cops like these - untrained or plain stupid - who make the job of professional law enforcement officers more trying than it already is.