Madonna's Knife-Toting Admirer Could Face Charges Again

DA revisiting case against firefighter who was arrested but never indicted for allegedly harassing the pop icon

Prosecutors are still hung up on this particular Madonna fan.

A New York judge ruled yesterday that the District Attorney's Office can refile charges against Robert Linhart, a retired firefighter arrested outside of the Material Girl's Manhattan apartment in 2010 with a sign reading "I need you" affixed to his SUV.

Madonna obtained a restraining order against him, but the case against him was dismissed in March, with the judge citing prosecutors' failure to meet the defendant's right to a speedy trial.

So, is there new evidence or something?

Not according to Linhart's attorney, Kevin Kitson, who told the New York Post that the case would be closed if the complainant wasn't Madonna.

Linhart spent two weeks in jail in 2010 and charged with felony weapons possession for the ice pick and pocketknife officers found on him when he was arrested. He was also charged with resisting arrest.

In court today, prosecutors admitted to making a "dumb mistake" by dropping the ball earlier this year, and Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Bonnie Wittner agreed to their request to reopen the case.

Meanwhile, should there be a federal task force devoted entirely to Madonna? A 54-year-old man convicted of stalking the pop icon escaped from a Los Angeles-area mental institution in February and spent a week on the outside before being recaptured.