A 19-year-old man's disorderly conduct and assault charges were dismissed because of evidence from a video taken at Palmerfest.
Chad E. Hess, of Galena, Ohio, was charged with one count of disorderly conduct by intoxication and one count of aggravated assault on a police officer after he was arrested because police said he threw a bottle at them.
Disorderly conduct is a minor misdemeanor charge and aggravated assault is a fourth -degree felony charge. Misdemeanors are handled by the city and felonies are handled by the county.
Athens City Prosecutor James Stanley dismissed Hess' disorderly conduct charge after Hess' attorney showed Stanley a video that proved Hess did not throw a bottle at police during Palmerfest.
The city prosecutors dismissed the misdemeanor charge with prejudice, which means it cannot be reopened.
Because the assault charge and the disorderly conduct charge stemmed from the same incident, Hess was dismissed of his aggravated assault charge, which is a felony, said Athens County Prosecutor C. David Warren.
Charging him for the felony would be double jeopardy, Warren said.
If he didn't throw the bottle
there is no case for the felony said Athens City Law Director Pat Lang.
-- Marika Lee
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