Star Simpson of Maui watches as her attorney, Thomas Dwyer, delivers his argument today at East Boston District Court. Simpson was arrested by state troopers after she set off an airport bomb scare wearing a computer circuit board and wiring on her sweatshirt when she went to the airport to pick up her boyfriend last September. Simpson's attorney asked a judge to throw out the charges, saying the device was a legitimate form of free speech. BIZUAYEHU TESFAYE | Associated Press

Attorney Thomas Dwyer Jr. asked a judge to throw out the charge against Star Simpson, 19, who is accused of possessing a hoax device. East Boston District Court Judge Paul Mahoney took the motion to dismiss under advisement and said he would issue a ruling March 21.

Simpson, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology student from Lahaina on Maui had gone to Logan International Airport last September to pick up her boyfriend.

She was held at gunpoint and arrested by state troopers after an alarm was raised over the battery-powered device on her shirt, which had flashing lights and the words "Socket to me" and "Course VI" (a major at MIT) written on the back.

Dwyer said his client, who is studying electrical engineering and computer science, didn't think her shirt would scare anyone. He said she had worn it on campus without alarming anyone.

"People make these objects part of their identity. It's a part of their personal expression," he said. "They are legitimate forms of First Amendment expression."

Dwyer also argued that state law does not clearly define what a hoax device is. The charge carries a penalty of up to 2.5 years and a $5,000 fine.

Assistant District Attorney Stephen Kerr said that police officers who arrested Simpson determined that a reasonable person would think Simpson was wearing an infernal device, which includes bombs and other explosives.

The terminal was not evacuated and flights were not affected. But authorities expressed amazement that someone would wear the device to the airport where two of the jets hijacked in the Sept. 11 attacks took off.

Her lawyer said she disconnected the battery to the flashing lights after somebody at the airport told her she shouldn't be wearing something like that.

Simpson, dressed in a long skirt and short-sleeved shirt, did not say anything during the court hearing.