Judge refuses to drop hoax charge against MIT student
(Globe file photo)
At a press conference in September, a State Police sergeant displayed the sweatshirt worn by Star Simpson to Logan International Airport.
By Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff
An East Boston judge has refused to dismiss a charge today against a 19-year-old MIT student who was arrested at gunpoint when she walked into Logan International Airport wearing a light-up sweatshirt that authorities believed was a bomb.
District Court Judge Paul Mahoney did not act on an argument by a lawyer for Star Simpson that the sweatshirt -- which included wiring and a computer circuit board -- was a legitimate form of free speech. Simpson was charged with possession of a hoax device. Her case has been continued until May 23.
"We are prepared to bring this matter to trial and have been for quite some time," said Jake Wark, a spokesman for the Suffolk District Attorney's office.
Simpson appeared briefly in court at 9 a.m. for the judge's decision. The case stems from an incident last September when she went to Logan to pick up her boyfriend wearing a black, hooded sweatshirt that had a device made of a plastic circuit board decorated with green LED lights and wires leading to a nine-volt battery. Police said she was also carrying in her hand between 5 and 6 ounces of Play-Doh, a substance that can resemble some plastic explosives.
(File photo/Michael Dwyer for The Boston Globe)
Star Simpson was arraigned in East Boston District Court on Sept. 21, 2007.
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