Max Hardcore Jury Returns Guilty Verdict

[srrRSSbot]

Jurors in the Max Hardcore obscenity trial have returned a verdict of guilty on 10 federal counts of distributing obscene materials over the Internet and through the mail.

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Source: XBiz
Publication Date:

[srrRSSbot]

TAMPA, FL – Adult video producer Max Hardcore was convicted Thursday on 10 federal counts of distributing obscenity. He faces jail time and stiff fines, but the jury decided he will not have to forfeit his Altadena, CA, home.

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[Snowman]

Originally Posted by srrRSSbot TAMPA, FL – Adult video producer Max Hardcore was convicted Thursday on 10 federal counts of distributing obscenity. He faces jail time and stiff fines, but the jury decided he will not have to forfeit his Altadena, CA, home. More...

Here's more from the article on Ynot.com.

His company, MaxWorld Entertainment, also was found guilty of the 10 related counts with which it had been charged. Hardcore told AVN he intends to appeal the verdicts. “It’s a sad day for all Americans when they smash any kind of free speech, and that’s what they did in Tampa today,” he told the adult-industry trade journal. “They trampled on free speech...” At one point during Thursday’s deliberations, the jury indicated it might be deadlocked. At the very least, according to a question the panel passed to U.S. District Judge Susan Bucklew, jurors were not of one mind on 10 of the 20 counts. By the time jurors finally settled on a verdict at 7:00 pm ET after 14 hours of deliberations over two days, however, they had voted for conviction across the board. After dismissal, several jurors reportedly approached Hardcore and his attorneys and indicated they felt “boxed in” to the conviction by “poorly written” laws regarding transportation of obscene material. Hardcore and his company were charged with transporting obscenity through the mail and via the internet. One juror called the verdict “a travesty,” telling AVN the panel “had no choice [except to convict] because of the way the law is written.” Another reportedly indicated the verdict hung on the application of two words in the obscenity statutes. Hardcore will be free on bail until sentencing, which is scheduled for September 5th.

[Snowman]

Here is an article on Max's guilty verdict on AVN:

Max Hardcore Found Guilty in Obscenity Trial

Attorney Jeffrey Douglas echoed Max's sentiments. "As I said in closing argument, I believe that this prosecution was shameful," Douglas told AVN. "And as Max Hardcore said, this is a sad day for America. It's a deeply sad day for him personally, but also for all of us."

[Snowman]

Some thoughts from other boards (XPT):

Jim B. -- " I can think of a few reasons for reversal and remand just on procedural grounds. If the Eleventh Circuit agrees, they won't consider the constitutionality* of the case and simply send it back down for a new trial. At that point, the new DOJ is unlikely to proceed, whether Obama or McCain wins in November."

I think the 11th Circuit might still discuss constitutional issues on appeal and also remand the case for procedural issues.

Charin -- " Will this have a chilling effect ^w?"

Hmmm probably! Sux huh?!

Willie D. -- "If I can ever find Potter Stewart's grave, I'm going to go piss on it. He's the douchebag who started it all. When the Court was trying to define the legal concept of "reasonability," he once said, Reasonability is like pornography. I can't define it, but I know it when I see it." It's been downhill from that point on."

Actually, he was trying to define pornography, not "reasonability." I wouldn't blame Justice Steward entirely for the (now unworkable) Miller Test.

Blahhh2000 -- "Wait a second. Are you telling me that a jury decided that girls puking on each other, while covered in piss, dressed up like school girls and pretending to 14 while being slapped and fucked in the ass is obscene? Those square bastards!! I'm not a fan of censorship and don't want to see my porn taken away. But I saw this coming a long time ago. I just hope it doesn't lead to them going after the more generic stuff. The only thing I can see a Obama administration going after in porn is the violence. I'm actually cool with banning scat and vomit porn. But I realize I'm probably in the minority here"

It will lead to going to "more generic stuff." This person needs to remember the slippery slope problem and that all the actors/actresses were consenting adults and the videos were only watched by consenting adults. In my view, no material of this type should be banned.

Moronboy -- "If vomiting and other body fluids and products shown in movies is considered obscene, let's put the guys who made Jackass 2 on trial. The "fart helmet" scene in particular. Why are things viewed as much more sickening and outrageous just because sexual penetration is involved also? I don't get it."

Good points. I also don't get why filming something perfectly legal to do in the first place becomes illegal when captured on video?

Frank J -- "THAT'S COMPLETE NONSENSE! Fact # 1: When you are a jury member at a courtroom trial, you ARE the law. While deliberating and deciding which way to vote (Guilty or Not Guilty), you are perfectly free and within your rights as a juror to totally disregard any law, statute, or regulation for any reason whatsoever, nor do you have to explain or justify your decision to ANYONE.

Fact # 2: When you are a jury member at a courtroom trial, you ARE NOT OBLIGATED to follow a judge's instructions (or anyone else's, for that matter)."

Frank appears to be responding to how some jurors felt the way the law was written they had "no choice" but to convict Max. Jurors should follow the judge's instructions and should not be "disregarding" laws, however in practice I am sure this happens all the time. Even if one doesn't agree with the law and/or jury instructions, almost invariably one could still find in favor of the defendant and follow the law due to all the grey areas involved. For instance, one could easily watch all the Max Hardcore discs and still hold the opinion they did not violate the community standards and appeal to "prurient interests." The minds of reasonable men may differ. It may take a strong individual however to hold out in the face of pressure from the judge and majority to reach a verdict.

Vizzle -- " I don't think the folks who are making light of this fully understand what's going to happen. Big Brother won. They lost when they went after Jeff, but they nailed Max and now they'll do it to someone else. Yeah, Max may be harder than most, but it set a precedent, and now the gov knows that they CAN win these kinds of cases. Christian right-wings know no bounds when it comes to porn...it's all bad in their eyes."

Amen Brother!

Charin -- "The disturbing thing to me is the idea that something is considered obscene because it is out of the mainstream. We hear that term a lot now, out of the mainstream. Now, mainstream pornography is alright. But Max pushed the edge, he is different in a way that does not appeal to the mainstream. Conform. Surrender. Do as you are told. Follow the herd. FUCK THAT"

Amend to that too!

[haynese]

Originally Posted by srrRSSbot TAMPA, FL – Adult video producer Max Hardcore was convicted Thursday on 10 federal counts of distributing obscenity. He faces jail time and stiff fines, but the jury decided he will not have to forfeit his Altadena, CA, home.

I'm not totally shocked Max lost this case. The Feds have been after him for years (to no avail) but this time they were very sneaky as they moved the case to FLORIDA!

Even though Max may win on appeal this has to be killing him financially. How many times has he been on trial in the last 10 years anyway?

Haynese

[ginko23]

Originally Posted by Snowman Willie D. -- "If I can ever find Potter Stewart's grave, I'm going to go piss on it. He's the douchebag who started it all.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg...e=gr&GRid=2291

[Sean Renaud]

You've got to be kidding, there is a find a grave link?

That aside this is scary, odd it hasn't gotten much press coverage at all. I mean I wouldn' tknow if I hadnt' followed it here on this site. It's kinda scary that BB won on this.

Well there are still more avenues for him to go through and really he's kinda like the last (or maybe the first) big outlaw left. If the government can't nail him down they've got to know that it's hopeless.

[haynese]

I don't know if this has been posted before but now Max faces more than $5 Million in fines and up to FIFTY YEARS in jail!

http://avn.com/law/articles/30615.html

Haynese

[Bigboi]

He did not have to give up his house. But he will have to give up his domain names. Juror statements: "One of the jurors said that as soon as the jury had entered the deliberation room, nine of them had been ready to find guilt on all charges before any discussion had even taken place."
"It was a travesty but we had no choice because of the way the law is written," the foreman declared. "If just two words in the law had been different, I think we could have held out longer for acquittal, and maybe even convinced the rest of them."
As the defense later learned, as the jury walked into the jury room to consider the forfeiture, one of them declared to the rest, "Okay; we gave you the guilty verdicts, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let you take his house!"
It still took them more than half an hour to reach their decision.