An appeals court reinstated criminal charges against six people arrested in Brookside, reversing a judge’s ruling that questioned the credibility of the troubled town’s officers.

In a unanimous decision issued Friday, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals sent the 24 cases back to Jefferson County Circuit, ruling that Judge Shanta Craig Owens erred last year when she dismissed the cases.

“Due to the lack of credibility and public trust of the Brookside Police Department under previous police leadership, all cases where the sole witness to the offense is a Brookside Police Officer will be met with heavy scrutiny by this court,” Owens said in her March 2022 ruling. In court, Judge Owens said Brookside’s credibility was “garbage.”

The appeals court noted that the defendants’ lawyers did not file motions seeking the dismissals and that the Brookside town attorney objected. In their 5-0 decision, the appeals court said that Owens did not have the power to throw out the cases ahead of trial solely over questions of the officers’ credibility.

“Although a circuit court has the authority to make credibility determinations under certain circumstances, it lacks the authority to dismiss charges pretrial based solely on its determination that the prosecution’s witnesses are not credible,” the appeals court wrote. “Thus, we hold that the circuit court erred, and we reverse its judgments.”

Owens dismissed the charges in the wake of an AL.com investigation that detailed how police in Brookside, a small town of just 1,253 people north of Birmingham bullied drivers and packed the town’s small courtroom. Revenue from fines and forfeitures increased 640 percent in two years and came to account for nearly half the town’s revenue by 2020.

The police chief, his top lieutenant and more than half of the force resigned or were forced out within two weeks of AL.com’s initial story. Two months later, the state legislature passed a law restricting Alabama towns from using revenues from fines and fees to supply more than 10 percent of their budgets.

The cases now return to Owens’ court for trial.

On Thursday, Brookside suffered a setback in a class-action lawsuit, as a federal judge in Birmingham ruled the plaintiffs’ case could move forward.

U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco denied motions to dismiss the lawsuit against Brookside and the towing company it used to seize vehicles.

The plaintiffs “are sufficient to plead a due process claim based on the institutional interest of the police department in generating impound fees and making arrests,” Judge Manasco ruled.

The lawsuit alleges the town and Jett’s Towing violated their constitutional right to due process.

The Institute for Justice, a libertarian-leaning group that files lawsuits on constitutional issues across the country, hailed Judge Manasco’s ruling.

“We look forward to fully vindicating the constitutional rights of our clients and the hundreds of other people whose rights were similarly violated,” said IJ attorney Tori Clark in a statement. “What’s happened in Brookside is extreme, but it’s not unique. Local leaders everywhere should get the message.”

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