“The Rankila 40: Superior’s Silent Scandal Is Going To Get Way Louder”

City Cops Lied. 40 Cases Died. And the Cover-Up May Be Deeper Than Anyone Admits.

When the Cop Lies and the Court Shrugs

Let’s rip the Band-Aid off: Officer Rankila—Superior’s very own rogue with a badge—lied on body camera during official police investigations. That’s not an accusation. That’s a fact backed by 40 criminal cases being dismissed like a teacher calling snow day.

But don’t expect a press release. Don’t wait for an apology. And definitely don’t hold your breath for Mayor Jim Paine to say anything that isn’t wrapped in passive-aggressive Facebook poetry.
This is a full-blown scandal, and the city’s playing dead.

Now We’re Asking: Did the City Attorney Prosecute You After a Rankila Arrest?

Here’s where it gets shadier than a grain elevator on Graskey’s ethics record:

We’re not just talking about dismissed felony-level cases or county-level prosecutions.
We’re talking about people prosecuted by the City Attorney for municipal charges after being arrested by Officer Rankila.

And guess what?
Those files? Missing. Hidden. “Not easily located.”

If you were prosecuted for disorderly conduct, resisting, municipal battery, or anything else through the City of Superior after a Rankila arrest—we need to hear from you.

Because there’s a real possibility the City is covering up those prosecutions, too.

What’s Being Hidden?

Let’s connect the dots:

• 40 dismissals = The cases too obvious to hide.

• Municipal prosecutions? = The ones they thought they could bury.

The District Attorney’s Office dumped Rankila-tainted cases once the lies hit critical mass.
But the City Attorney’s Office? Crickets. No retractions. No dismissals. No public acknowledgement that they even reviewed their files.

Translation? The City might still be sitting on dozens of tainted convictions—all built on the word of a man caught lying on body cam.

Civil Rights Violations? You Bet Your Ass.

Let’s break down just how much constitutional glass this city might’ve shattered:

Due Process Violations (14th Amendment)

If you were prosecuted while evidence was falsified or withheld—hello, Brady violations. The city doesn’t get to convict people based on a cop they knew was lying.

False Arrest and Malicious Prosecution (4th Amendment & 42 U.S.C. § 1983)

If Rankila’s fabrications led to your arrest, trial, or conviction—you may have a federal case. Not just against him, but against the whole chain of command who let it happen.

Equal Protection Failures (14th Amendment)

Did this pattern disproportionately impact people of color, the unhoused, or vulnerable communities? That’s not just unethical—it’s unconstitutional.

We Want to Hear From You—Seriously

If ANY of the following apply to you:

You were arrested by Officer Rankila
You were prosecuted by the City Attorney’s Office

You paid fines, did jail time, were on probation, or lost housing/employment
You were prosecuted by the Douglas County District Attorney

We want to talk.
Not for clicks. For accountability. For truth. For federal lawsuits, if that’s what it takes.

SoupNutz will respect your privacy. You don’t have to go public. But your case matters—and together, they might show a systemic pattern of misconduct.

Mayor Paine’s Vanishing Act

You’d think a mayor who loves the sound of his own civic sermons would say something.

Instead:
Silence.
Maybe a blog post about boat launches.
A black-and-white filtered selfie about leadership.

Meanwhile, real lives were derailed because his officers lied and his prosecutors charged anyway.

Qualified Immunity? Not When You Lie on Camera, Pal

Let’s talk about the magical cloak known as qualified immunity—the legal doctrine that protects officers from civil suits unless they violate a person’s “clearly established constitutional rights.” It’s like diplomatic immunity for domestic screwups.

But here’s the deal: when an officer knowingly fabricates evidence or lies in an official capacity, especially on a body camera—that shield shatters.

The Supreme Court and federal courts have repeatedly ruled that knowingly providing false evidence or testimony violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, and qualified immunity does not apply in those cases.

Case Law That Slams the Door Shut:

• Napue v. Illinois, 360 U.S. 264 (1959)
  The state may not use false evidence, including false testimony, to obtain a conviction. If the government knows it’s false and uses it anyway, that’s a straight-up constitutional violation.

• Mooney v. Holohan, 294 U.S. 103 (1935)
  The Supreme Court ruled that fabricating evidence by law enforcement violates due process. Period.

• Limone v. Condon, 372 F.3d 39 (1st Cir. 2004)
  Officers were denied qualified immunity after they intentionally withheld exculpatory evidence, showing that cops can be sued when they actively undermine fair trials.

• Ricciuti v. NYC Transit Authority, 124 F.3d 123 (2d Cir. 1997)
  Fabricating evidence and forwarding it to prosecutors was enough to pierce qualified immunity—even before trial.

• Spencer v. Peters, 857 F.3d 789 (9th Cir. 2017)
  Clearly established that deliberate evidence fabrication violates the Constitution, and officers are personally liable for it.

So if Officer Rankila lied on his body cam and that lie was used to justify arrests, charges, or prosecutions? That’s not just dirty policing—that’s constitutional malpractice. And he doesn’t get a free pass just because he was in uniform.

Even worse? If supervisors or the City of Superior knew about his misconduct and let him keep arresting people anyway, they might be on the hook for municipal liability under Monell v. Dept. of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978). That’s the part where the city cuts a big check—on your tax dime—because they trained or tolerated unconstitutional conduct.

So yeah—qualified immunity ends where civil rights begin. And in this case? Rankila may have kicked that door down himself.

Final Crossing Signal

This isn’t just a story about one bad cop.
This is about a city government that knew, looked away, and kept the gears of injustice grinding.

This is about:

• A District Attorney who dismissed and hoped the press wouldn’t ask more  questions.

• A City Attorney who may be sitting on a landfill of bogus prosecutions.

• A Police Department that let an officer wreck 40 cases.

• A Mayor and City Council that’s more concerned with Facebook clout than civil rights.

And it’s about you—the people they thought would never fight back.

Mic Drop

You were arrested by a liar. Charged by a system that didn’t care. And forgotten by a city that hoped no one would notice.

Now they’ve got our attention. And maybe yours too.

Contact SoupNutz. Let’s expose the rest of the iceberg they’re hoping stays underwater.

#FortyAndForgotten