Drunken-driving charge against actor Sam Shepard dismissed

Prosecutors in New Mexico have dismissed a drunken-driving charge against actor and playwright Sam Shepard.

The Albuquerque Journal reports the Magistrate Court said there was no likelihood the case against Shepard would succeed at trial.

District Attorney Angela Pacheco said in a court document filed Monday that Shepard was arrested after eyewitness accounts that he drank 1 1/2 margaritas and had a sip of mescal before leaving a Santa Fe restaurant. Pacheco says that isn't enough to raise his blood alcohol level to New Mexico's presumed level of intoxication.

Shephard's attorney said Thursday he hopes the dismissal will clear his client's name.

Shepard won the Pulitzer Prize for his 1979 three-act play "Buried Child." His film credits include `'Steel Magnolias," `'Black Hawk Down," `'The Notebook," and "Walker Payne."

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