Charges dropped against actor Cuba Gooding Jr.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Misdemeanor battery charges related to a bar dust-up have been dropped against Academy Award-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr.

City spokesman Ryan Berni says an arraignment hearing was held Friday but there was no one to press the complaint.

As a result, he says, the city moved to drop the charges. The Times-Picayune reports (http://bit.ly/QA32Ji ) the 44-year-old Gooding did not appear at the brief hearing before Judge Sean Early.