"Oh yeah, nothing to see here, just making your everyday citizens arrest and prosecuting off some obscure law to ruin three young people's lives".

LOL

The notion that if the situation were reversed, and any random citizen were to "citizen arrest" some "pillar of the rural community" and have charges stand in court is simply ridiculous. They would end up in jail themselves (or either get shot in the process)and a judge would laugh their argument out of the court room.

It is common sense obvious that the judge's ole buddy thought his service as a LEO was a lifetime appointment to do as he saw fit, and his good judge buddy wasn't about to embarrass him by failing to carry the process through.