Score a victory for nearly nekkid animal protests.
A judge ruled Tuesday that Dallas police had no reason to arrest an out-of-town circus protester in June.
Meggan Anderson, an actress who lives in Los Angeles, was arrested after she posed, nearly nude, as a beaten animal on a Dallas sidewalk during a PETA protest.
Halfway through the trial, the judge dismissed the jury and ruled that Anderson was not guilty. The judge said the prosecution failed to prove that her actions posed a threat of inciting violence, a standard called for in a disorderly conduct charge.
Don Feare, Anderson's attorney, said he was happy with the ruling.
"These animal-rights organizers have a right to communicate a message, and Dallas police can't keep arresting them on these trumped-up charges," he said.
Anderson, who flew into Dallas for the trial, spent nine hours in lockup after her arrest.
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"PETA and I have done numerous demonstrations of this nature, and I have never run into this complication before," she said.
The prosecution declined requests for an interview.
