I don t know the answer to this but Legally how is it possible for a private citizen to violate another private citizen s civil rights I don t know if this is the section Nelson was charged under in the federal case but if anyone could explain this I would appreciate it You can argue whether or not the outcome of the state murder trial was justified that s really not my concern here since it s a dead letter I m concerned about whether the subsequent civil rights prosecution was legal If the state murder acquittal was a miscarriage of justice it s not the first time Look at Issei Sagawa Part of having a mature understanding of this sort of thing is to realize that the criminal justice system isn t perfect and that it is inevitable that innocent people will be convicted and that guilty people will be acquited from time to time That s the price you pay for having a legal system in the end someone has to make the decision and sometimes they may not necessarily get it right I don t think it s going out on a limb to say that the Sagawa case is completely beyond all reasonable belief