State Supreme Court dismisses charge against Maui publisher

WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) - The Hawaii Supreme Court has dismissed a misdemeanor charge against a weekly tabloid publisher who was detained when he used his cellphone to videotape a police traffic enforcement operation six years ago.

The Maui News reported Tuesday that the court decided records fail to prove Thomas Russo had not been complying with a police officer's order.

Russo, publisher of Maui Time, was arrested in November 2012 while officers were looking for oversized vehicles and ones with illegally tinted windows. Two police officers reported telling Russo multiple times to step back, saying he was in their area of operations and in danger of being struck by a vehicle.

But the court said Russo's cellphone video "plainly demonstrates" that he had obeyed officers' orders.