India, Oct. 2 -- A District of Columbia judge has permanently closed the criminal case against former US Olympian David Hearn over alleged property destruction at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, ensuring federal prosecutors cannot bring the felony charges back to court.

On Thursday, Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman officially dismissed the highly publicised case with prejudice, putting a definitive end to a fraught legal battle that had drawn the ire of the White House. The rare judicial move prevents the government from keeping the threat of prosecution hanging over the athlete, whose legal team successfully argued that the damage was caused by a faulty installation rather than deliberate vandalism.

David Hearn Reflecting Pool C...