A man who says he was wrongfully prosecuted for making people sick after a trial is suing authorities in Mt. Pleasant and Isabella County. The facts in this story are some of the strangest you’ll ever hear, as reported by the Bay City Times:

Ridgeway had represented himself in a misdemeanor traffic case in December 2005. As the jury prepared to deliver its verdict, Ridgeway pulled out a vial of oil, put some on his fingertips and rubbed it around the defense table, court documents show.

He later insisted on shaking hands with an assistant prosecutor, the bailiff and the officer who gave him the ticket he was fighting.

All three soon suffered symptoms including nausea, headaches, numbness and tingling, records show.

Ridgeway has said the substance was anointing oil, or virgin olive oil that had been blessed by Pastor Pete Peters of the La Porte Church of Christ in La Porte, Colo..

Peters urged his followers to use the oils to cast evil out of government buildings, including courthouses, around the country, court documents reveal.

Ridgeway was arrested for assaulting public officers for using some sort of substance to make them sick, but a jury acquitted him of those charges. Now he’s suing the city and county officials involved.

It seems unlikely that he’ll win the case. Those officials do have qualified immunity from such suits, so the burden of proof is on the plaintiff and is set pretty high.