"Oh yeah, nothing to see here, just making your everyday citizens arrest and prosecuting off some obscure law to ruin three young people's lives".
LOL
The notion that if the situation were reversed, and any random citizen were to "citizen arrest" some "pillar of the rural community" and have charges stand in court is simply ridiculous. They would end up in jail themselves (or either get shot in the process)and a judge would laugh their argument out of the court room.
It is common sense obvious that the judge's ole buddy thought his service as a LEO was a lifetime appointment to do as he saw fit, and his good judge buddy wasn't about to embarrass him by failing to carry the process through.
Imagine how many perfectly innocent broke folk have spent time in prison because of those guys just because they did not have the means to fight it.
"Never Trust Government" -- Smart people. "The Great thing we should Fear and the Weird Thing we Trust is Elon Musk" -- Me "You can be broke but you cant be poor." -- Ruthie-May Webster
