Swift property trespassing charge dismissed in RI

[September 10, 2013]  SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) -- A trespassing charge has been dismissed against a Maine man accused of showing up at Taylor Swift's Rhode Island vacation home.

The Westerly Sun (http://bit.ly/18OYq5q) reports that police decided to drop the charge after determining it would be difficult to prove that 55-year-old Joseph Bernatche (ber-NATCH'-ee) of Portland, Maine, was on Swift's property when he handed her security guard a note telling the singer to call him.

Westerly police Lt. Phil Williams said it was not clear whether the guard had passed onto public property when he accepted the note.

Bernatche pleaded not guilty to the charge of willful trespass after his July 27 arrest.

Judge Melanie Quirk in 4th Division District Court dismissed the charge on Friday.

[Associated Press]

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