The Department of Justice got involved. The FBI opened an investigation into whether Hargrove's conduct constituted a pattern of civil rights violations. Federal prosecutors began reviewing Hargrove's 42 complaints to determine if criminal charges were warranted.
The criminal case moved forward quickly. The prosecutor charged Hargrove with deprivation of rights under color of law, illegal trespass, illegal search, false arrest, and assault. The charges carried a maximum combined sentence of 25 years.
The trial lasted three weeks. The prosecution's case was methodical and devastating.
Day one featured Terrance's testimony. He walked the jury through his credentials: his law degree, his clerkship, his 16 years teaching constitutional law. He described working in his yard, Hargrove entering without permission, his racist comments about people like him not living in houses like this.
The jury watched Hargrove's body camera footage. They saw from his perspective as he walked onto Terrance's property without announcing himself. They heard through his microphone as he demanded ID while Terrance was on his own property. They heard his statement that "professors don't live in houses like this." The camera captured his hands grabbing Terrance, forcing handcuffs on him, then searching through the shed.
The body camera footage was irrefutable: it came from a police source, showing exactly what Hargrove chose to do. He couldn't claim it was edited or biased; it was his own camera, his own perspective, his own actions. They also saw Diane's phone footage, which corroborated the body camera from an outside perspective, showing Hargrove threatening to arrest her for recording and calling 911.
Day three brought Diane's testimony. She described watching the illegal arrest unfold, calling 911, and Hargrove's threat to arrest her for recording. The jury saw her as a credible, neutral witness—a retired federal prosecutor with no personal stake in the outcome except her outrage at witnessing a constitutional violation.
"I've prosecuted hundreds of cases in my career," Diane testified. "I know what probable cause looks like. I know what a lawful arrest looks like. What I witnessed that day was neither. It was a police officer harassing a homeowner based solely on the color of his skin."
Days four through six featured Hargrove's previous victims.