The only thing that sheriff's department cares about is making arrests in order to look like they are solving crimes. It doesn't matter if who they arrest is the perpetrator or not so long as someone is in jail in order for the crime to be solved. If they get the wrong guy, all effort must be made to protect the department because they cannot appear to have made a mistake. I bet the actual officer will swear to his grave that this teacher is guilty. His police instincts tell him so inspite of the evidence.
That's quite a leap, taking it from one detective to the whole sheriff's department. Would you then expand that to every sheriff's and police department?
Frameups are almost as numerous as the Hollywood movies depicting them. I do not mean they are a high percentage of cases, but there's probably at least one going on somewhere at any given moment.
I have personal knowledge of one. My nephew, an attorney, won $750,000 from a city as the result of a frameup. Eighteen million seems a bit high.
This is the same department that invaded a man's home in the Malibu Hills, shot the 75-year old senior citizen in front of his wife when he came down stairs armed, and confiscated his ranch.
Small Problem:
(a) Wrong County!
(b) Police informant "says" marijuana being grown on property. "Informant" used in many similar cases.
(c) No marijuana observed beforehand, None found.
(d) Racket: Sheriff confiscates rural properties.
(e) County gives sweetheart deals to "environmentalist" wired to Diane Feinstein
(f) "Environmentalist" sells property back to county as nature reserves.
(g) Over the years, about $100Million.
What do we think that case is worth? What's in it for the Sheriff?