CHARGES DISMISSED FOR ROBERT DOWNEY JR.

A Riverside County judge dismissed drug charges against actor Robert Downey
Jr. on Friday and ended his probation for drug possession at a Palm Springs
resort.

Over the prosecutor's objections, Superior Court Judge Randall White in
Indio found that Downey had stayed sober for more than a year and should
have his probation lifted.

Downey's lawyer, Jim Epstein, said the Academy Award-nominated actor was
"ecstatic" and plans to get back to work as soon as possible. Downey, 37,
pleaded no contest last year to drug charges after his arrest at Merv
Griffin's Resort Hotel and Givenchy Spa. Under Proposition 36, a ballot
initiative that mandates treatment rather than jail for many drug
offenders, Downey was sentenced to a year at a live-in drug rehabilitation
facility.

Any probation violation could have put him back behind bars for four years.

Downey also was arrested in 1996, after authorities found cocaine, heroin
and a pistol in his car. He pleaded no contest and was placed on probation.
Three years later, he was sent to Corcoran State Prison for violating the
terms of his probation by failing to submit to drug tests.

Downey remains on parole in connection with that case. Because of the
parole and the probation, he was unable to get insurance to work on movies,
Epstein said. With the probation now lifted, he should be insurable, the
lawyer added.

Downey also plans to continue speaking to youths about the dangers of drugs
and addiction, the attorney said.