New York, March15 – New York police officials must be really, really sorry that they erroneously arrested Rosario Dawson during the 2004 Republican convention, because they allowed the actress to skip the slow-moving security line at the courthouse entrance, and thereby avoid contact with the press. Arriving at the lower Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday morning, Dawson headed directly into the building’s lobby while her mother held her spot in line; both submitted to the metal detectors once the mother had inched her way inside.

Dawson’s mother then proceeded to use her body to literally shield her daughter from reporters and photographers, stretching tall and exclaiming, “It’s a good thing I wore heels!”

To put it in perspective, high-profile defendants like Courtney Love, disgraced Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski and even preppy murderer Robert Chambers were forced to stand in that line while waiting to enter that same courthouse, with no protection from reporters.