Judge Halts Case Against Atlanta Transit Screamer

DECATUR, Ga. (AP) - A judge has halted a criminal case against a woman accused of screaming at a woman passenger on an Atlanta commuter train, an event seen more than 600,000 times on YouTube.

DeKalb County State Court Judge Barbara Mobley said Tuesday she would place the case against 26-year-old Nifiza Ziyad on a “dead docket” and refer her to a pretrial diversion program for the mentally ill.

DeKalb Solicitor General Robert James said he might appeal Mobleys decision, which came after Ziyad read a poem about her struggles with bipolar disorder.

Ziyad was captured on video March 10 in a loud and obscene tirade, in which she described herself as a rapper, sang, jumped about and menaced a 65-year-old woman.