Kanye West is a free man now, Cleared of battery, theft charges

Los Angeles court commissioner Mark Zuckman dismissed all three misdemeanor charges against the rapper and his road manager Don Crowley stemming from their scuffle with photographers at LAX on September 11, 2008.

The charges could have landed West behind bars for up to two years and six months and Crowley for up to five years.

Rapper’s airport scuffle
The misdemeanors were connected to an altercation West allegedly had with paparazzi last September at LA International Airport. The hip-hop artist was arrested along with his road manager Don Crawley at the time for taking a paparazzo's $10,000 video camera and smashing it on the floor after he tried to film the pair boarding a flight to Hawaii.

Two men had pleaded innocent in a Los Angeles court on May 18 this year. The 32-year-old recording artist had pleaded not guilty to charges of grand theft, battery, and vandalism.

West’s business manager Crawley had also pleaded innocent to two counts of the same charges. The 33-year-old was accused of damaging the property of a second photographer, as well.

West cleared of Theft, battery charges
On Friday (Oct. 23), commissioner Zuckman dismissed misdemeanor charges of battery, grand theft and vandalism against the two men after West's attorney Blair Berk successfully convinced the court that the criminal charges were too harsh.

However, the judge ordered the two to complete 50 hours of community service, to which the rapper’s attorney said he will perform his volunteer hours with the American Red Cross.

Hearing revealed more about West
People magazine reported that the Friday’s hearing, which was not attended by West, also revealed that the hot-tempered rapper voluntarily received court-ordered anger management counseling following the altercation at LAX. West completed 12 one-hour sessions, which his attorney Berk did not disclose until Friday’s hearing.

"Kanye took the charges very seriously [and] responded appropriately by getting counseling to figure out why this happened," Berk told MTV News on Friday after the dismissal. "And the court appropriately agreed to dismiss all charges ... this was the outcome that was appropriate given the facts of this case."

More about the hip-hopper
Born June 8, 1977 in Atlanta, Kanye West is an American record producer and rapper who rose to fame in the mid 2000s. He released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004, his second album Late Registration in 2005, and his third album Graduation in 2007.

West's debut album, The College Dropout, received numerous numerous awards including two platinum awards and triple Grammys.