SAN FRANCISCO – Filipino American practicing lawyer Rodel E. Rodis can sue two police officers for wrongful arrest after they accused him of trying to pass a fake $100 bill which turned out to be genuine in a Walgreens chain store in San Francisco in 2003, according to a ruling of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal in San Francisco Tuesday, Aug. 29.

In affirming a lower court ruling, a 2-1 majority opinion of the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals, concluded that the two arresting officers- San Francisco police officer Michelle Liddicoet and Sergeant Jeff Barry are not entitled to qualified immunity because they failed to prove that there was probable cause that Rodis had intent to defraud at the time of Rodis' arrest. Probable cause requires information sufficient to warrant a prudent person in believing that the accused had committed or was committing an offense, according to the ajority opinion penned by Judge Dorothy Nelson. In a 26-page decision, the court noted that one of the arresting officers had known Rodis for years and that Rodis identified himself as a locally elected official. Rodis even offered to pay for the items with another, newer $100 bill and there was no evidence that Rodis knew that the bill was fake.