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PHOENIX Two newspaper executives who published details of a secret grand jury subpoena seeking reporters' notes and lists of Web site readers won't face charges following a deluge of criticism about their arrests, the county attorney announced Friday.

"It has become clear to me that the matter has gone in a direction that I would not have authorized," Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said. "The case cannot go forward. It has been compromised."

But he said he still thinks the Phoenix New Times "arguably" broke the law when it published details from the Aug. 24 subpoena, which stems from the investigation into the paper's 2004 article that included the home address of Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

State law prohibits online publication of law enforcement members' home addresses "if the disclosure poses an imminent and serious threat" to the safety of officers or their families.

But the subpoena went far beyond the 2004 article, seeking documents and other material related to preparation and publication of numerous stories on Arpaio. It also sought Internet addresses of all people who visited the New Times Web site and any Internet addresses those people may have visited before reading the stories.

The paper executives, Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin, wrote they regarded the article published Thursday as an act of civil disobedience.

Lacey, executive editor of Village Voice Media, and Larkin, CEO of the Phoenix-based chain, each were arrested on a misdemeanor charge of disclosing grand jury information. Disclosing grand jury information is punishable by up to six months in jail, $2,500 in fines for a person and $20,000 for an enterprise.

Lacey, who was released early Friday, welcomed Thomas' decision to drop the case.

"It certainly took some courage for him to do that," Lacey said. "It is great news for the First Amendment and the Constitution."