LONDON - Amy Winehouse was found not culpable on Friday of assaulting a dancer at a charity ball in London last year.
The ruling came at the end of a two-day trial at the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court, according to the Press Association. Winehouse, 25, had been accused on punching dancer Sherene Flash in the face. The singer denied the charge, saying she had been intimidated when Flash put her arm around her and so pushed her away.
"Five foot seven in burlesque heels places you at quite an advantage over five foot two in ballet pumps," Winehouse's lawyer Patrick Gibbs told Flash in court on Friday, explaining why the singer had felt threatened.
Winehouse won five Grammy awards in 2008 and her album "Back to Black" earned widespread critical acclaim. But her troubled private life, including a battle against drug addiction, has overshadowed her recording success.
In March, Winehouse was unable to get a U.S. work visa to perform at April's Coachella festival in California because of the assault charge. Earlier this month, she ended her two-year marriage to Blake Fielder-Civil.
(Writing by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Steve Addison)
