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A Miami-Dade judge on Tuesday dropped
charges in the first trial related to a demonstrator arrested during
November's Free Trade Area of the Americas meetings after a police
officer failed to show up and testify.
County Judge Rosa Figarola dropped
the misdemeanor charges against Ernesto Longo after one of the two
subpoenaed police officers failed to appear, but she said prosecutors
could refile the charges.
Longo, 34, of Hollywood, was arrested
Nov. 21 by Miami-Dade police on charges of failure to obey a lawful
police order and refusal to disperse.
If convicted, he could have been sentenced to a maximum of 60 days in jail, six months probation and $500 fine.
State attorney's spokesman Ed Griffith said prosecutors haven't decided whether to refile the charges.
Prosecutor Bart Armstrong asked the
judge to reschedule the trial after Miami-Dade Lt. Jeffrey Schmidlinger,
who had issued an order for protesters to disperse, failed to appear in
court.
The judge refused.
Officer Christopher Moon, who had arrested Longo, came to the courtroom.
A police spokesman said a supervisor
had told Schmidlinger he had been given a standby subpoena and wasn't
told to be at court. Griffith said the officer had been told to appear.
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