A judge in the Bahamas has dismissed charges against two people accused of trying to extort money from US actor John Travolta after the prosecutor said the actor no longer wanted to pursue a case stemming from the death of his teenage son.
Prosecutor Neil Braithwaite had submitted a motion to drop the case after a jury had already been picked and a retrial scheduled for the two defendants.
"The Travolta family has said that this matter has caused them unbelievable stress and pain and they wish to put this whole thing behind them," Mr Braithwaite said.
Ambulance driver Tarino Lightbourne and his attorney, Bahamian senator Pleasant Bridgewater, were accused of threatening to release private information about the 2009 death of Travolta's 16-year-old son Jett at the family's holiday home in Grand Bahama.
Mr Lightbourne, who was among the medics who treated Jett, allegedly sought $25 million from the actor with the assistance of Ms Bridgewater, who resigned her seat in the Bahamas Senate after she was charged in the case.
A judge declared a mistrial in October after a Bahamian politician suggested the still-deliberating jury had acquitted one of the suspects.
Travolta had testified during that trial and one of his attorneys said in October he had been prepared to testify again if necessary. But the actor said today that the delay in prosecuting the case had prompted his decision not to take the stand again.
"The long-pending status of this matter continued to take a heavy emotional toll on my family, causing us to conclude that it was finally time to put this matter behind us," he said in a statement.
"Therefore, after much reflection I concluded that it was in my family's best interest for me not to voluntarily return to the Bahamas to testify a second time at trial."
AP