Carroll’s daughter’s car had been broken into, and Waller was found with her stolen credit card. Waller said he had found the card.

The next morning, another prosecutor and Carroll’s close friend, Bliss Barber Worrell, told Dierdorf and an intern that Carroll had beaten Waller, the opinion says. Dierdorf did not report the incident to supervisors.

Carroll described the beating to Worrell and Schuessler by speakerphone later that morning, saying he punched and kicked Waller, hit him with a chair and stuck his gun in Waller’s mouth, the opinion says. Schuessler responded with what the court called a “racist and homophobic comment about the suspect’s assault,” bringing laughter from Carroll and Worrell.

Schuessler and another prosecutor, Lauren Collins, learned Waller had been charged with a felony for fleeing custody, and became concerned that he could go to jail for a crime he did not commit, the opinion says. A reluctant Schuessler went with Collins to a supervisor, the opinion says, telling that supervisor that Worrell might have filed false charges.

When called in front of supervisors, Dierdorf withheld some of what she knew about the incident, the opinion says, then told Schuessler, “I told them I don’t know anything. You don’t tell them you know anything either.”