Story Created:
Nov 24, 2009 at 3:22 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Nov 24, 2009 at 3:22 PM EDT
NEW YORK (AP) - Can law enforcement officially declare that nude equals lewd?
At the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, police had arrested Kathleen "K.C." Neill in August during photographer Zach Hyman's shoot in the arms and armor department
A New York judge dismissed public lewdness and other charges Monday against the model who posed for a nude photo shoot at a museum while visitors gawked.
Defense lawyer Thomas J. Hillgardner says Neill did nothing indecent during the photography session. Arresting a model for posing nude in an institution full of depictions of nudes is indefensible. Hilldgardner says she was making art and he noted court rulings saying public nakedness isn't necessarily lewd.
Prosecutors were not convinced of their ability to conclusively prove the case against Neill beyond reasonable doubt.
The museum did not comment. The photographer calls the charges "completely absurd."
