Oprano Adult Industry Forums - Judge to Max Hardcore: Go Directly to Jail

--Tampa Tribune

Tampa- A federal judge today denied a request by adult-movie producer Paul Little, also known as Max Hardcore, to delay his 46-month prison sentence while his attorneys appeal his conviction on obscenity charges.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bucklew ruled that Little's attorneys failed to show that his conviction or sentence is likely to be overturned by a federal appeals court.

Little lives in California but was tried in Tampa after investigators here ordered his films through the mail and downloaded them on the Internet.

Little's attorneys stated in a motion that they plan to appeal Little's conviction on seven grounds, including the argument that federal obscenity laws violate the right to sexual privacy and are "unworkable when applied on the Internet."

They also maintained that Bucklew, who presided over the trial, erred when she allowed prosecutors to present excerpts of the films in question rather than the entire films and when she wouldn't let the defense play the entire DVDs.

The attorneys also maintained that Bucklew formed her own conclusion about Little's guilt before the prosecution had finished presenting its case.

They said Little is not likely to flee before going to prison because he has known for a long time about the investigation and did not flee and because he traveled to Tampa for every required court appearance.

Bucklew dismissed each of the defense arguments, ruling, for instance, that federal courts have upheld the obscenity statutes under which Little was convicted.

According to evidence in the trial, federal investigators in January 2006 purchased an online membership to the Max Hardcore Web site and downloaded five promotional video clips. Then, in March 2007, an undercover U.S. Postal Service inspector bought five DVDs from the Web site, having them delivered to a post office box in Tampa.

The videos featured scenes of vomiting and urination, depicting scenes of women being forced to ingest various bodily fluids.

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