MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) - A lawyer for a young woman from Mexico whose 2010 arrest for a traffic offense in suburban Atlanta nearly led to her deportation said the criminal case against her has been dismissed.
Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley on Wednesday granted a defense request to dismiss the case against Jessica Colotl, defense lawyer Jerome Lee said.
"We're glad this odyssey is finally over," Lee said.
After several legal twists and turns, Lee in October accused Staley of playing politics with the case, saying the elected judge was refusing to dismiss it to pander to her conservative constituency.
Colotl, whose parents brought her to the U.S. illegally from Mexico when she was 11, was thrust into the national spotlight after she was stopped for a minor traffic violation in March 2010 and then arrested for driving without a license.
In February 2011, Colotl was indicted on a charge of false swearing after the Cobb County Sheriff's Office said she gave deputies false contact information during booking for her arrest.
Colotl entered into an agreement with the Cobb County district attorney's office in August 2011 to enter a pretrial diversion program. Staley initially signed off on Colotl's participation in that program but then backtracked after a media report quoted Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren as calling the deal a "slap on the wrist" and something he hadn't agreed to.
Even after then-District Attorney Pat Head filed court documents advising the court he had no intention of prosecuting the case further, Staley declined to dismiss the case. Head did not seek re-election in November. His successor Vic Reynolds did not immediately return a call Thursday seeking comment.
A spokeswoman for Warren did not immediately respond to an email Thursday seeking comment from the sheriff.
Lee applauded Staley for making what he speculated was a politically difficult choice.
