In August 2011, plaintiffs Robert Lindsey and Charles Rodriguez, patrol deputies with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, were criminally investigated by the department’s internal criminal-investigations bureau. The investigation stemmed from alleged discrepancies between a video of an arrest, which occurred on June 2, 2011, and Lindsey’s June 3, 2011, arrest report involving Uriel Salgado, an undocumented immigrant living in Los Angeles. Salgado was arrested for possession of one-quarter of a gram of cocaine, but the arrest report listed Salgado’s name as “Abraham Rueda.” Salgado, who allegedly had been convicted several times for controlled-substance offenses, used at least seven false names during the criminal proceedings, but he ultimately admitted under oath that his true name was Salgado. As a result, Lindsey and Rodriguez were accused of falsifying a police report, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office ultimately filed charges against Lindsey and Rodriguez. Lindsey and Rodriguez’s preliminary hearing was set for Feb. 14, 2014, but when Salgado failed to appear for the hearing, the Superior Court dismissed the case against them. Lindsey and Rodriguez claimed that the District Attorney’s Office only filed charges against them because of Undersheriff Paul Tanaka’s influence and that Tanaka, who was the policymaker for the county, singled them out in retaliation for the actions of Lindsey’s father, who was a commander in the sheriff’s department. Lindsey and Rodriguez sued Tanaka, the deputy district attorney, Kevin Stennis; and their employer, the county of Los Angeles. Lindsey and Rodriguez alleged that the defendants retaliated against them in violation of their civil and constitutional rights. Lindsey and Rodriguez claimed that although Salgado gave them a false name during his arrest and later admitted to using a false name, Lindsey truthfully summarized in his police report both the deputies’ and Salgado’s actions on June 2, 2011, and that there were no false statements in that report. They also claimed that other similarly situated officers, who were also accused of falsifying police reports, were not investigated or referred for prosecution, and that the District Attorney’s Office only filed charges against them because of Tanaka’s influence. They alleged that Tanaka only had the department prosecute them because Lindsey’s father’s challenged Tanaka on many occasions. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that after the Superior Court dismissed the case against Lindsey and Rodriguez, the deputy district attorney, Stennis, serving in a non-prosecutorial function, began pursuing a means for Salgado to avoid deportation and legally remain in the United States. Counsel contended that Stennis — who at the time was pursuing a position as a Superior Court judge in Los Angeles County — engaged in negotiations with Salgado in order to secure his testimony against Lindsey and Rodriguez. Specifically, Stennis allegedly promised to assist Salgado in obtaining relief from deportation as a “victim” under the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that although the negotiation and promises of assistance to Salgado were contained in email communications between Stennis and Salgado’s sister, that evidence was deliberately withheld from Lindsey, Rodriguez and the Superior Court. Counsel asserted that as a result, Lindsey and Rodriguez were ultimately sent to trial. Plaintiffs’ counsel also contended that information was withheld from the deputy district attorney who took over the prosecution of Lindsey and Rodriguez once Stennis was appointed to the Superior Court. Thus, plaintiffs’ counsel asserted that Stennis, who was not performing official prosecutorial functions when negotiating with Salgado to obtain legal immigration status in the United States, was aware that there was a lack of probable cause to charge Lindsey and Rodriguez and that Stennis deliberately and unconstitutionally withheld evidence to prosecute Lindsey and Rodriguez for the political goal of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. Counsel noted that, ultimately, on June 11, 2015, four years after the legal arrest of Salgado, and after the immigration negotiations with Salgado became known during trial, a Los Angeles County jury acquitted Lindsey and Rodriguez of all charges. The defendants did not admit to any liability., Lindsey and Rodriguez claimed that from August 2011 until they were acquitted in June 2015, they were taken off of patrol, deprived of their salaries, and suffered, along with their families, extraordinary humiliation and emotional distress. Lindsey and Rodriguez sought recovery for their loss of earnings and their emotional pain and suffering.