Misdemeanor charges against Madeline Fening were dismissed on Wednesday, according to court documents, after she admitted the police had probable cause to arrest her.
Fening, an investigative reporter with Cincinnati CityBeat who was arrested during a chaotic clash with police on the Roebling Bridge in July, had a trial scheduled for January. Kenton County prosecutors had previously made a similar offer to drop the charges in exchange for admitting probable cause, but Fening had declined the initial offers.
“I was just doing my job,” said Fening in an ACLU press release. ACLU lawyers defended Fening in court. “I am relieved this is over, and grateful to everyone who stood with me. I look forward to publishing my full account of what transpired that day on the Roebling Bridge.”
Fening and CityBeat intern Lucas Griffith were both arrested with 13 others during the encounter on the bridge and charged with felony rioting.
Their rioting charges were dropped at a hearing in July, but their misdemeanor charges were upheld.
Griffith’s trial occurred last month. A jury found him guilty of failure to disperse but not guilty of disorderly conduct, obstructing an emergency responder and obstructing a highway. He left the trial owing the court $219 in combined costs.
“We are pleased that our client has been fully exonerated,” said Bethany Baxter, staff attorney for the ACLU of Kentucky. “The press should not be punished simply for being present where the news is happening.”