Dropped charges in reflecting pool 'vandalism' cases show rush to judgment

At a press conference on July 2, Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said she had "tremendous evidence" proving that David Hearn had deliberately caused more than $1,000 in damage to the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, making him guilty of a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. That was not true, Pirro admitted Friday, when she withdrew the charge against Hearn, a 67-year-old former competitive canoeist. Pirro's embarrassing reversal, which enraged…