Prosecutors with the state Attorney General's Office dropped charges against a woman and her driver accused of conspiring to illegally take photos in a courtroom.

Jennifer Gilliland-Vanasdale, 49, of Cranberry Township and Jason D. Renton, 48, of Mars, her chauffeur, faced charges that Renton illegally took photos of a lawyer and her client last year in a courtroom, violating the state's law against recording court proceedings, while Gilliland-Vanasdale allegedly conspired with him in the act on March 20, 2019. At the time, Gilliland-Vanasdale was running for a judgeship in the county.

In a filing Tuesday, Kara Marie Rice, a prosecutor with the Attorney General's Office, asked the court to drop charges against the two defendants, citing “prosecutorial discretion” as her reasoning in the court document. Rice did not return several requests for comment.

The lawyer photographed, Nicole Lynn Thurner, who was also then a candidate for county judge, said she was contacted by Rice last week to inform her and the other victim that the charges against Gilliland-Vanasdale and Renton were being dropped. Thurner said the decision to drop the case was made because Rice was concerned the law surrounding the issue might be vulnerable to being struck down by the state's Supreme Court.

Gilliland-Vanasdale and Renton were charged under the statute Unlawful Use of an Audio or Video Device in Court, which makes it illegal for anyone to capture, record, transmit or broadcast a photograph, video, motion picture or audio of a proceeding or person within a judicial facility or in an area adjacent to that facility. That would include witnesses, defendants, lawyers or other parties involved in such proceedings. Per law, a judicial facility means a courtroom, hearing room, judge's chambers or any other room for trials, hearings or the interviewing of witnesses.

Thurner said that Rice told her the state is worried that the defense lawyers might appeal the case all the way up to the state's Supreme Court, where the statute might be struck down over constitutional concerns.

“I am disappointed in the attorney general's decision to drop the charges, but I do understand their decision,” Thurner said.

In a recent court filing, Gilliland-Vanasdale's lawyer argued that the statute is unconstitutional. The filing was made with the help from two lawyers in Washington, D.C.

“The Attorney General has made it clear to me that they are not willing to risk the law being challenged or overturned as a result,” Thurner said.

But Thurner also said the law served an important purpose.

“Think about if you were a litigant in court for any matter, whether it be civil, criminal, custody or any other reason: would you want your photograph to be taken and then used as a way to harass or intimidate you?” she said. “I would be willing to guess the answer would be no.”