Twitter on Friday turned over to a judge a printed stack of messages written by an protester in October, around the time he and hundreds of others were arrested after walking on the roadway of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Manhattan prosecutors subpoenaed the records in January, because the messages could show that the police did not lead protesters off the bridge's pedestrian path and then arrest them, an argument that the protester, Malcolm Harris, of Brooklyn, is expected to make at trial.
The judge, Matthew A. Sciarrino Jr., of Criminal Court in Manhattan, said he would keep the messages sealed in an envelope in his chambers until Sept. 21, when a hearing is scheduled in a challenge to his earlier ruling requiring that the messages be turned over to prosecutors.
If that challenge fails, Judge Sciarrino said he would review the messages and then turn over the relevant material to prosecutors.
Mr. Harris was one of about 700 protesters who were arrested on the bridge. He was charged with disorderly conduct, a violation.
The case has broader significance for the effect it may have on how much access law enforcement has to material published on social media Web sites. Judge Sciarrino said that once the material was broadcast, it was no longer a private record.
Twitter objected to the demand for messages that were no longer on its public site and has appealed Judge Sciarrino's ruling.
