BLACKSBURG -- A hearing for a Virginia Tech student whose arrest sparked a protest against town police ended when an attorney posed the question of whether the town's noise ordinance is unconstitutional.

Nathaniel Lewis, a 22-year-old Virginia Tech student who goes by the name Jaz, was arrested Sept. 22 and charged with violating the town's noise ordinance and obstructing justice.

His friend, Khayri Wallace, 19, also was charged with obstructing justice over trying to interfere with Lewis' arrest, police said.

E-mails that circulated about the incident claimed that the officer used excessive force when he pepper-sprayed Lewis, and about 30 people took part in what they called the "Justice 4 Jaz" silent protest against Blacksburg police. Neither Lewis nor Wallace testified at Thursday's hearing, but several Blacksburg police officers did.

They said they responded in the 200 block of Ascot Lane about 2:40 a.m. after getting a noise complaint.

Officer Ryan Hite testified that when he arrived after another officer had called for backup, Lewis and Wallace were sitting on some steps, hollering.

Hite said he could hear them from about 70 feet away and told Lewis he could be issued a summons for violating the noise ordinance if he continued yelling.

Hite said Lewis was charged with obstructing justice after refusing to give his name or provide any identification.

After Hite and several other officers had testified, Melvin Hill, the attorney for Lewis and Wallace, moved to strike the charges. He said the first officer didn't have proper reason to approach the men because yelling isn't a violation of a noise ordinance.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Nicole Terry then read the town's ordinance, which prohibits yelling, shouting or whistling between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.

Hill countered that if it includes yelling, the town's noise ordinance is unconstitutional. Not only Lewis' words but the volume of those words is covered under the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech, he said. Lewis, he said, had the right to resist that unlawful arrest.

District Court Judge Gino Williams said it makes no difference what Lewis' words were, but "it appears to me that the issue now is the ordinance and the volume."

If he finds that the volume of a speaker's voice is not protected by the First Amendment, Williams said, he will overrule Hill's motion to strike the charges, he said. But if the judge determines it is protected, the charges against the men could be dropped -- and that could affect the town's noise ordinance.

Hill and Terry will argue the issue in writing before Williams makes a decision.