NEW YORK – A Manhattan judge dismissed charges against Rosario Dawson (search) and two others who were arrested while filming movie scenes near the location of last year's Republican National Convention (search).
Charges of disorderly conduct and obstructing government administration were dismissed Tuesday by Criminal Court Judge Melissa Jackson. The charges were filed against Dawson, director Stephen Marshall and Viaja Grosgalves following their arrest near Madison Square Garden (search), site of the 2004 GOP convention.
"I'm happy how this all went down," said Dawson, 25, as she left the court. Dawson's screen credits include "Men in Black II" and "Alexander."
The trio had been shooting scenes for "This Revolution" when they were seized Aug. 29, 2004, along with hundreds of anti-GOP protesters at 35th Street and Eighth Avenue.
Police said at the time that Dawson was wearing two handkerchiefs on her face with only her eyes showing and that the group had refused to move when police told them to. They were arrested after Marshall tried to show police a city film permit.
Assistant District Attorney Eric Arnone, in asking the judge to dismiss the charges, said his office had reviewed videotapes of the area at the time of the arrests.
"Of all the tapes we have reviewed, none of the footage establishes that the defendants were given a command to leave the area, much less that the defendants intentionally disobeyed a command to leave," Arnone said.
The prosecutor also said the defendants were using the protests as a backdrop for the film and weren't part of the protests themselves.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox