BATON ROUGE - After their acquittal in criminal court last year, a civil court judge has reversed the firings of two former BRPD officers who had been accused of abusing their authority.

Emerson Jackson and Travis Wheeler won't go back to work yet. The Police Department alerted the judge that it would appeal the case, which put their potential return on hold. If the former officers prevail, they will be owed back pay for the more than three years since they were fired.

In 2014, a woman accused Officer Isaac Bolden of forcing her to perform oral sex on him while Jackson and Wheeler acted as lookouts at a park. The three officers were arrested and indicted.

All three were acquitted at trial.

Bolden had resigned from the force after the allegation, so he is not part of the appeal. Jackson and Wheeler were fired after their indictments.

The case now goes to the First Circuit Court of Appeals.