Quote Quoting standish
View Post
Technically, violating one's constitutional rights is a class A misdemeanor under Federal law (a felony if it causes serious bodily injury), but good luck starting a prosecution on that one!
I assume you are speaking of 18 USC 242:


http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/se...2----000-.html

The key element being:


Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects...

Police enjoy qualified immunity in civil suits, a heavy burden to overcome.

If such criminal charge were brought, then "beyond a reasonable doubt" would be the burden of proof.