Tucson city court dropped misdemeanor charges earlier this week against two protesters and an Arizona Daily Wildcat' photographer arrested Feb. 12 during an Earth First! rally at Congressman Jim Kolbe's east side office.

The charges were dropped due to a technicality - no criminal complaint was filed with the city court prior to arraignment, said Michael Rankin, the Tucson City Prosecutor assigned to the case.

Second-degree trespassing charges against Katherine Gardiner, UA media arts sophomore and Wildcat photographer, were dismissed along with charges against Georgiana Gegee and Alfred Decker, two Earth First! protesters.

"It happens," Rankin said. They were "dismissed without prejudice, which means it is the state's decision whether or not to refile the charge in six months. It is going to be up to our office on whether or not to refile."

"In a confusing and highly charged situation like that, it's not unlikely to see mistakes get made and paperwork get dropped," he said

Arizona Daily Star photographer David Sanders told the Wildcat in an earlier interview that Gardiner was the third female photographer to be treated "negatively" by TPD in February.

"In most cases, the people had been warned not to cross the line," said Sgt. Eugene Mejia, Tucson Police Department. "It is our job to make sure an investigation is properly conducted, and that means keeping people away, even photographers."

"A lot of it comes through lack of experience in dealing with police crime scenes," he added. "They must know where they can go, when they can go, and how they can do it. Sometimes the education process comes in the form of a citation."

Gardiner, who has photographed fire scenes in the past, acknowledged that TPD could have mistaken her for an Earth First! member.

"I understand how they would think I was a protester," Gardiner said. "But once I was identified as a press photographer, I should have been released."

"I think the same treatment should be applied to the other photographers," she said. "If I was pulled off the wall, why wasn't David Sanders?"