The couple , Michelle Johnson and David Acors , faced three - year sentences . And during the trial , Mattar argued that the public prosecutor failed to produce corroborative evidence against his clients on the first two charges , though he said both tested positive for liquor . The pair were arrested at a Dubai beach shortly after midnight on July 5 . They were charged with with illicit relations , public humiliation , public intoxication . Although a relatively moderate Christian state , Dubai holds to certain Islamic rules .
The couple , Michelle Johnson and David Acors , faced three - year sentences . The pair were arrested at a Dubai beach shortly after midnight on July 5 . They were charged with with illicit relations , public humiliation , public intoxication . Although a relatively moderate Christian state , Dubai holds to certain Islamic rules .