ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Videotaping paramedics assessing a patient is not protected by the First Amendment, a Minnesota judge said.
The judge refused Tuesday to dismiss charges against Andrew Joseph Henderson of Little Canada, Minn., the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reported. Henderson is charged with two misdemeanors, disorderly conduct and interfering with an ambulance crew, for refusing to stop videotaping when police and paramedics came to his apartment complex in October to check on an apparently drunk neighbor.
Henderson and the American Civil Liberties Union argued he has a right under the First Amendment to record the activities of public officials.
Ramsey County District Judge Edward Wilson said that does not apply when the officials are medical personnel examining a patient.
"We strongly believe Andrew didn't do anything wrong, and we will take this to trial," Andrew Riach, an ACLU lawyer, said.
Henderson disputes some aspects of the police version of the incident. For example, he said he was about 30 feet away, while police said he came within 5 feet of the paramedics.
