Keanu Reeves ruled not liable for photographer's fall

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Los Angeles judge on Monday threw out charges of assault and battery brought against Keanu Reeves by a photographer who claimed the "Matrix" actor deliberately hit him with his car.

"There was no evidence of the slightest contact or the slightest touching," Los Angeles Superior Court judge Elizabeth Grimes said during a court hearing.

"It didn't happen. Plainly Mr. Reeves intended to drive away. That intent is not lawful," Grimes said, dismissing most of the lawsuit.

Photographer Alison Silva sued Reeves last year over injuries he said he suffered in a March 2007 incident when Reeves was trying to leave a Los Angeles area clinic in his Porsche.

Grimes ruled however that the photographer fell because he tripped on his own feet, adding that Reeves himself appears to have been the victim of an assault when Silva put his hands on the actor's car.

Reeves said in a sworn statement submitted in July that Silva was blocking his car from driving away but that he did not try to harm the photographer.

Silva also sued Reeves for negligence over the incident and Grimes ruled that that portion of the lawsuit should go to trial in October.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant)