PANAMA CITY, Fla. — Prosecutors have dropped one drug possession count against the creator of the “Girls Gone Wild” video series, but he still faces 43 other charges including a second possession count, racketeering and promoting the sexual performance of a child.

Lawyers last week said a charge of possessing hydrocodone against Joseph Francis was dropped this week because Francis had a prescription for some of the pills Bay County sheriff’s deputies found in a search during spring break at nearby Panama City Beach.

Prosecutors last month reduced the drug charges from trafficking to possession after defense lawyer Aaron Dyer, of Los Angeles, had presented another prescription that accounted for other pills. Francis, 30, of Lake Tahoe, Nev., still faces an oxycodone possession charge.

Penalties can range from probation to a maximum of five years for possession compared to 30 years for trafficking.

Circuit Judge Michael Overstreet also ordered the state to return items deputies seized, including blank tapes, cellular telephones, still cameras and radio equipment, because they were neither covered by a search warrant, purchased through illegal activity nor contraband.

Overstreet gave Assistant State Attorney Mark Graham seven days to determine which of several digital recording devices seized held items of contraband or evidence. Those not being used in the state’s case also are to be returned.

The judge criticized the warrant as “very broad and bare-boned” but allowed the state to keep items classified as the fruit of illegal activity. They include backpacks, T-shirts, armbands and caps with logos of Girls Gone Wild and Mantra Entertainment Inc., Francis’ production company based in Santa Monica, Calif.

Overstreet also let the state retain several video cameras as evidence for the racketeering charge. Some leased recording devices were returned with the agreement they could be brought back for trial.

In California, meanwhile, a judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Mantra and Francis that accused them of violating the privacy rights of a woman by using her image in a Mardi Gras video.

She is shown on a New Orleans balcony above a public street dancing, smiling and exposing her breasts. The judge said her public conduct did not require consent to use her image.

A federal judge in Orlando made a similar ruling in a case last year involving a 17-year-old girl filmed on a public street in Panama City Beach.