Tuesday, June 18, 2013
CINCINNATI (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court has found that police officers can be convicted of intimidation if they knowingly file false complaints to intimidate or influence witnesses.
The court’s decision today also reinstated a former Cincinnati police detective’s conviction on an abduction charge and turned down his request to throw out his conviction for intimidation.
The ruling stems from the court case against former Detective Julian Steele, who was fired from the police department and convicted in the false arrest and nine-day detainment of a 17-year-old boy.
Prosecutors argued that Steele held the teen in order to coerce sex from his mother, although a jury acquitted Steele on rape and sexual-battery charges.