NBC New York reports that one of Zach Hyman's models who was arrested in August for being naked in a public place has had the charges dropped. Hyman is famous for having his models pose in the nude in front of the most notable places in New York City. The problem with this is that in the 30 seconds that Hyman conducts a photo shoot, anyone nearby can see the naked model- including children.
Neill's New York criminal defense attorney was able to get the misdemeanor charges dropped because of the setting of the photo shoot and the definition of "lewd."
Kathleen Neill, the model, was charged with public lewdness (which is a Class B misdemeanor). Section 245 reads that a person would be guilty of this if, "he intentionally exposes the private or intimate parts of his body in a lewd manner." Her attorney argued that her behavior was not lewd: obscene or indecent.
The judge threw out the case because her New York criminal defense attorney said that she was not being lewd but instead, "making art." She was nude in a museum that contained many other sculptures and paintings of nude people, so how would her "display" be any different or offensive to the people who paid to see just that?
The prosecution commented that this would be a difficult case to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.
Related Resources:
ShareThis
