Scandal-tarred, ex-felon, ex-mayor Marion Barry will remain a free man thanks to a magistrate judge's ruling Friday. Or maybe, make that due to a prosecutor having muffed the case.

In an 18-page opinion that's not particularly surprising, but which nonetheless may infuriate those weary of Barry's shenanigans, U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson turned down the U.S. Attorney's request that Barry be packed off back to prison.

Barry pled guilty to tax charges in 2005. As a condition of his probation, Barry agreed to abide by, among other things, tax laws. Nonetheless, in January, it became known that Barry had failed to file his 2007 and 2008 tax returns. Prosecutors, fed up, asked the court to revoke Barry's probation from his earlier conviction. Barry said health problems were one impediment; prosecutors were not convinced. They stated:

"(Barry's) health concerns did not prevent him from vacationing in Jamaica, running a successful campaign for reelection or working as a member of the Council of the District of Columbia."

Prosecutors later withhdrew the request that Barry be sent to prison for violating his probation requirements. Moreover, the assistant U.S. Attorney assigned to the case seemed to give up on the whole affair; as the judge noted, "without explanation" the prosecutor declined to call two potential witnesses. Indeed, Judge Robinson seemed quite scathing in her dismissal of the case the prosecutors did bring; the upshot, in any event, is that Barry wins.