Richmond's top prosecutor plans to withdraw a charge against a woman who was arrested after filming police as they performed crowd control in Shockoe Bottom last year.
Police had charged Joanne Jefferson, 36, with impeding traffic. They say she disobeyed their commands to move away as officers were trying to maintain order as bars let out around 2 a.m. Sept. 14.
Commonwealth's Attorney Michael N. Herring said today he will withdraw the charge because it is a pedestrian safety statute that does not exist to guard against crowd-control situations.
Jefferson, meanwhile, has accused police of excessive force in the incident. She said an officer grabbed her arm, pushed her against a wall and put her on the ground after officers told her to move along.
Herring has determined that the officers did not act with excessive force. "Based on everything that I've seen, I see no evidence that would support a criminal investigation of a police officer," Herring said.
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