Judge denies immunity for animal control officer

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal judge refused Wednesday to toss out a malicious prosecution verdict against a Powhatan County deputy sheriff and animal control officer who arrested a woman for allegedly refusing to disclose the location of a dog that had bitten her.

U.S. District Judge Robert Payne denied Christine Boczar’s motion for qualified immunity. Boczar had renewed the motion after a jury last month found in Eileen McAfee’s favor on one of two malicious prosecution counts and awarded her damages of $2,943.