Today, a judge granted "Accelerated Rehabilitation" probation to Andrea Mears. Mears is the 23yr old woman that violently attacked a responsible UAV pilot at a large CT state park back in May 2014. She then lied to the police claiming he attacked her. He had video of the whole event showing she launched an unprovoked attack on him. And it turns out his video from the Iris was so high up and far away, you couldn't make out any of the people on the beach anyway. It was scenery video, not beach babe video.

For those who are not familiar, Accelerated Rehabilitation ("AR") in Connecticut is also know as Probation Before Judgement ("PBJ") in other states. It is not a conviction with a sentence of probation. Instead you are put on probation before trial and judgement. You are on probation for X years with conditions that must be met. If you behave and do not violate any of those conditions, your record will be wiped clean. No record at all. The case is dropped and no record is left.

Mears was given two years of AR, which is rather common in CT. If she behaves for those two years, her record will be wiped clean. She receives no fine, no jail, no punishment, no restitution, nothing. Literally, her "punishment" is that she is not allowed to commit crimes for the next two years.

Personally I think it is pathetic. She violently assaulted an unarmed non-aggressive minor, made false statements to the police via 911, and made false statements to the police in person when they arrived. She attempted to frame him for a crime he didn't commit by claiming he assaulted her. Had it not been for his video, the police would have arrested him for assaulting her. And for this, her punishment is being told not to do that again for two years.

Aerial video:

http://www.courant.com/community/new-haven/hc-new-haven-drone-assault-0710-20140709,0,3673256.story?ncid=newsltuspatc00000010