GALVESTON, Texas -- A jury cleared a former Galveston County Daily News photographer Wednesday of a charge that he interfered with police during 2007’s Mardi Gras.

The case raised questions about whether police destroyed evidence, and prompted debate about the rights of journalists and ordinary citizens to monitor the actions of law enforcement.

Nick Adams, who now works for The Appeal-Democrat in Northern California, was an intern with The Daily News in February 2007, when he was taking pictures at Mardi Gras.

Adams was photographing an arrest in Galveston when League City officer Cliff Woitena saw him and told him to stop taking pictures.

When Adams did not, he said, the officer took him to the ground and arrested him.

The officer claimed Adams got too close to officers during the arrest and after ordering him to back off, persisted and crossed the perimeter officer who was backing up the arresting officers.

The Galveston County jury didn’t see it that way and instead affirmed that Adams was within he rights to take the photos and had not interfered with the officers' arrest attempts.

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Nick Adams

Famed civil rights attorney Anthony Griffin, whom The Daily News retained to defend Adams, said a digital index from Adams’ camera showed police deleted photos while Adams was in custody. The images would have shown Adams was outside a police-secured perimeter, Griffin said.

“So you have destruction of evidence, and second, you have the whole issue of censorship of the press ... If every law enforcement agency had a right to go through a reporter’s notebook or camera or computer, then that’s a dangerous precedent to establish,” Griffin said.

He also said the case went beyond the newspaper’s rights to the First Amendment rights of every American.

“All those folks who see something and report something -- or even if they’re just standing around looking -- as long as they don’t do anything to disturb law enforcement from doing their job, we have a right to stand and watch and even protest and say, 'That’s not right,’” Griffin said.

However, prosecutor Apriél Powell told jurors Adams had stepped within the perimeter officers had established for safety while they arrested another man near 22nd Street and The Strand.

“This is not a case about freedom of the press,” Powell said. “(Adams) was effectively saying, ‘I have a camera in my hand, and I’m taking pictures, so I don¹t have to follow the law.”

After the verdict, Adams said he was happy to be found not guilty of the misdemeanor charge.

“It feels great,” he said. “I’m glad the jury saw the truth. I’m glad the jury upheld the First Amendment and that the jurors saw the inconsistencies in the police officer’s testimony.

“This case is not just of importance to me and to The Daily News – it’s important to everyone. It upholds the First Amendment.”

The jury’s ruling comes not long after a Harris County jury found that Harris County Sheriff’s Deputies violated the civil rights of two men who were video taping the arrest of one of their neighbors. In that case, the sheriff’s office also tried to claim that the two men’s actions interfered with police duties.

The county settled the lawsuit with brothers Erik and Sean Ibarra, paying them $1.7 million.