The FOP isn’t trying to influence the trial, Lindsey said, but waited because the union was expecting “something big to come up” that would explain Kunzweiler’s actions.

“(The admonishment is) when we started kind of gearing up and getting our head wrapped around what our options were, because up to this point we had never done anything like this. We’ve never dealt with an issue like this,” Lindsey said. “So we kept waiting for something to happen, and it was shortly after that admonishment that we saw that there was not going to be a big piece of evidence that made this make sense to us.”

Lindsey said the union believes Kunzweiler is a “good DA,” a “good man” and “makes good decisions” except for in Shelby’s case. Lindsey said potential citizen unrest and political pressure “creeped into the process” and that those who watched Kunzweiler announce the charge could see the pressure he was under.

“And I’m not going to second-guess the DA and say that he shouldn’t have filed charges,” Lindsey said. “What we’re saying is he shouldn’t have filed charges until all of the evidence was in.”