Roeder then sued the city for malicious prosecution.

Schock said he and lawyer Hugh Eastwood argued in this week’s trial that St. Peters issued a small number of failure-to-appear arrest warrants in a bid to “make a spectacle of people and get more people to pay” their tickets. Schock said that as a result, the city’s red-light camera revenue jumped.

Schock said Roeder “ended up being the person in the entire St. Louis community that said ‘I’m going to stand up and fight.’”

Matthew Fairless, a lawyer for the city, said there would be an appeal. He referred questions to a city spokeswoman.

A city statement called the verdict disappointing and pointed out that no punitive damages were awarded. A new failure to appear ordinance was passed in 2013, the statement says.

In court filings, lawyers for the city argued that Roeder could not sue for malicious prosecution unless there was no probable cause for the entire 2013 proceeding, including the red-light charge for which she was found guilty. Roeder’s lawyers responded that the two charges were separate and just consolidated for trial.

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