RIGHT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Minnesota Man Who Filmed Sheriff’s Deputies Acquitted By Jury.
The prosecution claimed that Henderson was within a few feet of the paramedics (but not physically interfering with them), while Beck testified that he was approximately 35 feet away, quietly filming. That disagreement would have been resolved by the video itself, except that the sheriff’s deputies seized Henderson’s video camera, and the tape that it contained mysteriously disappeared.
The prosecutor offered Henderson a plea bargain whereby he would plead guilty to a petty misdemeanor and pay a $50 fine, but Henderson refused, preferring to defend the case on First Amendment grounds. He received a free legal defense from a prominent Twin Cities law firm.
Since the prosecution admitted that Henderson didn’t physically interfere with the ambulance crew, the case never should have been brought, let alone proceeded as far as a jury trial. That said, it is reassuring that the jury had no difficulty in acquitting Henderson.
Now he should sue.