Prosecutors ask to drop charges against Arkansas ex-senator

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to dismiss wire fraud and bribery charges against a former Arkansas state senator who was set to face trial next month for a second time after a jury deadlocked last year. Gilbert Baker, who also served as a former chairman of the state Republican party, was accused of conspiring with a former state judge who admitted to lowering a jury’s award in a negligence lawsuit in exchange for campaign contributions. Baker was set to go on trial again Nov. 8, but prosecutors filed a motion Thursday seeking to dismiss the indictment. The motion did not give a reason for the dismissal and a judge must still approve it.