The Massachusetts Institute of Technology sophomore who threw Logan International Airport police into a frenzy in September for wearing what appeared to be a bomb pleaded not guilty to possession of a hoax device and asked the judge to dismiss the charge at a pretrial meeting yesterday.
On Sept. 21, Star Simpson, 19, while holding putty in her hands, walked into Logan’s C Terminal wearing a circuit board covered in lights and was quickly surrounded by police armed with submachine guns. Though it was quickly determined Simpson posed no legitimate threat, the incident awakened sensitivities to the possibility of terrorism in the airport from which two of the planes hi-jacked on Sept. 11, 2001 departed.
Simpson’s attorney, Thomas Dwyer Jr., said he and Simpson, who claimed the device was a work of art, will challenge the charge against her because he said the Massachusetts statute regarding hoax devices is ambiguous and violated her civil rights.
“We believe there is a very strong legal argument that the statute that was used to arrest her is unconstitutionally vague,” Dwyer said. “Some of the terms that are in the statute [are vague]. . . . What is a device, what’s the issue of intent, what is the description of the device?”
Dwyer said he agreed to work on the case pro bono because of the strong conflict it presents between individual rights and concern for public safety.
“I’m very interested in cases having to do with the First Amendment and artistic expression when it bumps up against security,” he said. “I think that whenever there is a case when facts aren’t on the record, there is a tendency to overblow coverage.”
Dwyer said he could not comment on Simpson’s handling of public scrutiny she has faced since the incident.
Jake Wark, spokesman for Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley, said the statute in question has never been contested and the district attorney’s office will continue to pursue the case because of the severity of Simpson’s offense.
“In the 21st Century and given all that’s happened in airports, specifically Logan Airport, the charges have merit and we will pursue them,” Wark said. “We don’t bring criminal prosecutions to set an example. We bring them because of the gravity of the offenses charged.”
Wark said the maximum penalty for possession of a hoax device when convicted in a district court is two-and-a-half years in jail, a fine of $1,000 or both.
The trial will be held Dec. 3, he said.
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