ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — A lawyer defending two clients from charges they were photographed running red lights in Athens subpoenaed five traffic cameras to testify.

Attorney Regina Quick said calling the cameras, which did not show up in court on Tuesday, was logical. She said she questioned a police lieutenant who signed off on the citations mailed to a client and a civilian technician who printed and mailed the images, and neither knew how the technology worked.

She said that made the cameras themselves the only possible witnesses.

"I didn't observe them as they came in, so I don't believe they'll be appearing," Quick said.

Jim Davis, the assistant county attorney who prosecuted the cases, said Quick should have subpoenaed Athens-Clarke County officials to produce the cameras.

"It's not proper to serve an inanimate object, such as a camera," Davis said.

State law says that the picture is all the county needs to fine someone for running a red light, Davis said. "The citation speaks for itself," he said. "There is no other evidence required."

Municipal Court Judge Kay Giese acquitted the defendants anyway, on grounds that prosecutors failed to produce evidence they were the registered owners of the cars caught on film.

Red-light cameras at two intersections have drastically reduced the number of drivers who run those lights, especially young drivers who "caravan" through the intersections 10 or 12 at a time, Athens-Clarke Manager Alan Reddish said.

Rear-end collisions are up slightly at those intersections, but sideswipes that often result in more serious injuries are down, he said.