2-year legal battle ends?

The state's criminal case against former Police Officers Sheldon Fitzgerald and Howard Hill III, who are accused of beating up a graffiti vandal, has lingered. In the past two years, the case has bounced from Municipal Court to Common Pleas Court to state Superior Court and back.

The reason? Cautious judges and dogged prosecutors.

Here's a timeline of the case.

May 27, 2008: Then-District Attorney Lynne Abraham files criminal charges against Fitzgerald and Hill. Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey later fires the officers.

Sept. 9, 2008: At the start of a scheduled preliminary hearing, Municipal Judge Marsha Neifield recuses herself. Neifield, a 12-year court veteran who won a retention vote last year, says that she doesn't feel comfortable presiding over the case because she knows Fitzgerald and Hill from seeing them around the justice complex, including in her courtroom as witnesses for prosecutors.

Nov. 20, 2008: Municipal Court Senior Judge Francis P. Cosgrove throws out the case after a lengthy and tense preliminary hearing. Cosgrove, who retired from the bench in 1997 and now serves as a visiting judge, provides no public explanation. The docket entry cites "Lack of Evidence."

Nov. 25, 2008: The D.A.'s Office refiles all charges against Hill and Fitzgerald.

Jan. 27, 2009: After an 80-minute preliminary hearing, Common Pleas Judge Frank Palumbo dismisses the charges. Palumbo, elected to a 10-year term in 2005, says that there isn't enough evidence to hold the case for trial.

Feb. 23, 2009: The D.A.'s Office appeals the case to state Superior Court.

April 8, 2010: A three-judge appellate panel, made up of Superior Court judges Kate Ford Elliot, Jack A. Panella and Christine Donohue, reverses Palumbo's ruling and sends the case back to Common Pleas Court.

- Wendy Ruderman