U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel dropped manslaughter charges against former Austin Police Department Detective Charles "Trey" Kleinert Thursday afternoon, thus ending any chance that the APD veteran will see any sort of criminal recourse for the death of Larry Jackson, Jr.

He didn't, of course, "drop" anything, but then, it's not like journalists work with words, so the Austin Chronicle's Chase Hoffenberger can be forgiven his inept phrasing. Rather, Yeakel held that the Constitution precluded state prosecution of a federal agent for the performance of his duties:

In a 27-page opinion, Judge Yeakel concluded that the state's assertion that Kleinert should not be entitled to Supremacy Clause immunity because Kleinert's interactions were not within his federal-task-force duties is not concurrent with the law, and that "by virtue of Kleinert's deputation, he was authorized to investigate federal crimes committed in his presence.