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Judge withholds N.C. Confederate vandalism punishment

A judge will not punish a University of North Carolina graduate student who vandalized a Confederate statue on campus earlier this year.

HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. (AP) — A judge has declined to punish a University of North Carolina graduate student who admitted to splashing red ink on a Confederate statue on campus last April.

Orange County Judge Samantha Cabe noted that Maya Little had admitted to the crime on the stand and that the facts showed she was guilty of the misdemeanor charge of defacing a public monument.

But Cabe used a North Carolina judicial maneuver known as a "continued judgment" to essentially withhold the guilty verdict after hearing impassioned testimony about how Little and others struggled with the statue's Confederate symbolism.

Judges are allowed the option for certain minor crimes. Little's defense attorney Scott Holmes described the outcome as similar to a tie.

Cabe also waived court fees and restitution.

The statue was torn down by protesters in August. Little doesn't face charges in the toppling of the statue.

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