RAPID CITY (AP) - The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has dismissed a Rapid City police officer's appeal, clearing the way for a trial on a former landfill employee's claim that the officer violated his Fourth Amendment rights four years ago.
Lt. Peter Ragnone gave grand jury testimony in a 2010 case in which landfill scale house attendant Randall Meidinger was indicted for forgery and grand theft. Meidinger was found not guilty and sued.
In September, U.S. Chief District Judge Jeffrey Viken dismissed Meidinger's claims against Mayor Sam Kooiker (KWAY'-kur), former Police Chief Steve Allender and former landfill supervisor John Leahy. But Viken said a jury should decide if Ragnone's testimony was credible when he told grand jurors that Meidinger had confessed.
The Rapid City Journal reports Ragnone unsuccessfully appealed Viken's decision.
