The focus is how your child got bullied and how the teacher mishandled the incident, not if your child is innocent.
First: Your child’s jacket got taken away against your child’s will. Is there any witness or evidence? Is there any bullying, intimidating, physical or verbal abuse? You better hire a good attorney to sue your child’s classmate’s guardian, no matter whose jacket it is.
Second: Did the teacher use any language or action to explicitly or implicitly charge your child as stealing? What are the school’s and district’s policies of this kind of handling, and was it by the book according to school and district policies? Are the school and district policies fair and litigation-proof regarding this handling? The teacher and school seemed to have played jurisdiction by requesting both children to provide proof innocence. This smells trouble for the school and teacher. Another law suit could be possible.
Third: If your child is not charged as stealing, why bother to prove anything. It’s hard to imagine the school or teacher even dare to try playing a judge in this case.
The focus is not to defend innocence if no one attacked your child’s innocence. Your child might be bullied and mistreated, and you need to demand justice by law.
I am not a law professional. I just have some interest. You need a pro.
