DURHAM — Durham District Court Judge Gerald Taube accepted a request by state and Durham police Thursday to “put on file without findings for six months” the charges against a Foster’s Daily Democrat photographer.
Charges set aside without finding are discarded if the defendant has no further scrapes with the law during the specified period.
The charges stemmed from the photographer’s arrest by state police near the end of a celebration by University of New Hampshire students after the Red Sox won the World Series on Oct. 27.
Photographer Aaron Rohde, 28, of Dover, was tackled to the ground and arrested by state police and charged with misdemeanors for disorderly conduct and willful interference with a police dog after he took a photograph of the dog biting a student’s leg.
Police have contended Rohde’s use of his camera flash excited the dog and he did not “back away” as ordered by the trooper handling the dog. The newspaper has countered the arrest of Rohde was inappropriate, an overreaction to his photographing the dog biting the student and an effort to keep him from recording the event and doing his job.
Reacting to the agreement, Foster’s Daily Democrat Executive Editor Rodney G. Doherty offered his compliments to those involved in settling the case.
“I think our attorneys, John Teague and Kelly Dowd of Upton and Hatfield in Concord, represented us very well,” Doherty said. “And ultimately the discussions with, and cooperation of, the Durham Police Department and officials of the New Hampshire State Police brought this to a good resolution.”
“This agreement leaves it that Aaron is innocent of the charges,” Doherty said, “and that’s what we wanted. We believe we had a strong case and that we would have prevailed if the case went to trial. But this resolution allows each side to make its point.”
And, Doherty said, it needs to be remembered this arrest and threat of jail was about Aaron’s life and his personal record, not just the newspaper making a point to police.
Durham police said they were content to let the resolution stand as their comment.
Agreeing on the resolution brought about good discussions, and perhaps better relations, between Foster’s and the state and local police when it comes to covering breaking news stories, Doherty said.
A focus of the resolution is the display of press credentials.
“The police have emphasized that Aaron was not displaying a press ID when he was arrested, and that’s true,” Doherty said. “However, not only was he not required to display his ID, but he had on him both his Foster’s press pass and press credentials from the university issued for coverage of the anticipated celebration. And Aaron was emphatic about declaring he was a Foster’s photographer to the state trooper before he was arrested.
“But we needed to overlook this contention, and the result of our discussions is that a more defined policy about display of credentials at breaking news stories will be instituted for our staff. Police, in turn, assure reasonable access to news events by our photographers and reporters,” Doherty said.
This resolution appropriately puts the responsibility on the shoulders of both sides, Doherty said.
The agreement that brought about the resolution states:
“Both a free press and the maintenance of peaceful order and safety are essential to a free society.
In order for reporters and press photographers to adequately cover news events, they need to have sufficient access to the event.
In order for law enforcement officials to maintain order, particularly in situations involving crowds, they must be able to perform their duties without interference.
In order for the press and law enforcement to perform their jobs simultaneously, both parties must respect the other and be willing to take reasonable steps to avoid confrontation and misunderstanding.
Among these steps is the need for visible and proper identification of both press representatives and law enforcement officials.
Foster’s Daily Democrat and Aaron Rohde agree that, in the future, photographers and other newspaper employees will make every effort to make visible their press credentials whether issued by the paper or a third party.
The undersigned representatives of law enforcement agencies agree, within the scope of their authority, to make every effort to provide press personnel who prominently display proper press credentials reasonable access to news scenes consistent with the overall maintenance of order, public safety and preservation of criminal scenes.
It is understood emergency events may arise which require quick decisions by either law enforcement or the press. However, when these situations occur, both sides pledge to accommodate the other to the extent possible under the circumstances. Objective and thorough press coverage of significant events is essential to demonstrate the need for and effectiveness of adequate law enforcement.
Foster’s Daily Democrat and the undersigned representatives of law enforcement agencies will strive to bring to each other any concerns with regard to this agreement, in advance of events, when possible, and further pledge to engage in ongoing discussions to maintain a positive working relationship between the Foster’s Daily Democrat and the undersigned law enforcement agencies.”
The document is signed by Rohde, Doherty, Major Barry J. Hunter of the state police and Attorney Thomas Dunnington for Durham.
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