TELEVISION - Aug. 31, 1992

Geraldo Off the Hook: A prosecutor in Wisconsin says he won’t press charges against Geraldo Rivera for punching a heckler at a Ku Klux Klan rally earlier this month. “I’ve seen the tape of the incident, and I believe the conduct he engaged in was privileged self-defense,� Rock County Dist. Atty. Perry Folts said. Rivera, who initially was charged with battery, said that he hit back only after John R. McLaughlin, 42, of Champaign, Ill., had bitten and kicked him and made racial slurs. McLaughlin was charged with disorderly conduct. The scuffle took place while Rivera was taping the rally for his TV talk show.