Charges withdrawn against Pitt News photographer, others

The city district attorney’s office withdrew the charges for three people arrested during the… The city district attorney’s office withdrew the charges for three people arrested during the G-20 Summit, including one Pitt News photographer.

Mike Manko, a spokesman for District Attorney Stephen Zappala’s office, said the office withdrew the charges against Pitt News photo editor Vaughn Wallace “after consulting with the Pittsburgh police and reviewing the evidence.”

“It was determined that Wallace was working with credentialed media at the time,” Manko said.

Police had charged Wallace with failure to disperse and disorderly conduct while he was reporting on the G-20 Summit on Sept. 25.

Pitt biology professor Jared Evans and photographer Shane Dunlap, who The Pitt News credentialed to cover the Summit, also had their charges for failure to disperse and disorderly conduct withdrawn.

Wallace said he was relieved to hear that his charges were being withdrawn.

“I’m excited that we are finally making progress with the district attorney’s office,” he said, “and I’m grateful for the help I’ve received from both my lawyer, colleagues and other friends.”

Cris Hoel, an attorney who represents Wallace and some other Pitt students, said withdrawing the charges is a “welcome development.”

“We are grateful to the district attorney’s office for effecting justice in this case,” Hoel said.

He said their records will not be cleared completely, though, unless they file a petition to expunge their records, which erases any indication of an arrest or criminal proceeding. Such records can affect their abilities to get certain jobs, he said.

Hoel said he hopes other students’ charges are also withdrawn.

“I represent a number of other students who were charged and remain hopeful that charges will be withdrawn in those cases, although perhaps not on terms quite so favorable as those for working journalists,” he said.

Dunlap said he flew from North Carolina, where he interns, for his court hearing this week.

“It was kind of a wasted trip, I guess,” he said. “I’m very glad to hear that the charges were dropped.”

Evans didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The charges against Victor Powell, the other Pitt News photographer arrested while covering the G-20 demonstrations in Oakland, have not been withdrawn. The district attorney’s office has already withdrawn charges against Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Sadie Gurman, who was arrested around the same time Wallace and Powell were.