Man Acquitted In Stupid Fake Dynamite Case

You may recall the sad, stupid saga of (former) maintenance man Robert Lopez, who was arrested in 2007 while sitting on the stoop of his apartment building with some fake sticks of dynamite he found in the trash. Lopez had brought the cartoonish-looking "bomb" home from work with the intention of making a piggy bank out of it, but when a concerned transit worker called the cops, his ridiculous legal nightmare began.

Lopez was indicted for violating a state law that makes "placing a false bomb or hazardous substance" a felony that carries up to four years in prison. His lawyer, Joshua Horowitz, urged Lopez to consider taking a plea deal that would have given him three years' probation, but Lopez refused, telling the Times, "Why should I plead guilty if I haven't done anything?"

Yesterday, the judge agreed, derisively asking prosecutors, "Would you prosecute all the people who sit on their porch with a lighter that looks like a grenade?" Lopez was elated after the verdict, and said, "My mom is going to be happy, my sister is going to be happy, all my family is going to be happy. And the bond guy is going to clap his hands — every time I see him he asks me why I’m still going there."

But the legal battle has been extremely draining for Lopez, who lost his job and has struggled with homelessness since losing his apartment. Oh, and his mother was diagnosed with cancer last week. Still, his spirits were soaring yesterday, and after the ruling Lopez said to Horowitz, "Remember my promise? Now I have to take you to a steak restaurant." The Times reports that Horowitz—who advised Lopez to plead guilty—"did not decline" the offer of steak from his unemployed homeless client with the cancer-ridden mother.