The Report That Unravelled

A man told police that he had been the victim of a hate-crime attack. Prosecutors later alleged he had staged the attack himself and hired two brothers to take part. He was charged with 16 counts of disorderly conduct for filing a false report. Weeks later the prosecutor's office dropped all charges in exchange for his community service and forfeiture of his $10,000 bond. After public outcry, a special prosecutor was appointed and obtained a new indictment on the same conduct, and a jury convicted him on five counts. The defence argued that the first prosecutors had made a binding agreement not to prosecute him, which he had fully performed, so the second prosecution was unlawful.