Porn Arrest

Uri · 12-01-2002

By all accounts, the adult book and video section of Jerry's General Store on east Colonial Drive did brisk business.

At least it did until Tuesday, when Orange County deputy sheriffs descended on the popular family-owned store and arrested Roxie Hanna, 33, her mother, Diana Cooper, 55, and her great-aunt Eileen Hart, 75.

Deputies arrested the three women on charges of racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering and distribution of obscene pornography. On the conspiracy charges alone, the women could face up to 30 years in prison.

Customers drove up to the Union Park store at lunchtime Wednesday to find a locked door and a message.

A handwritten note greeted patrons: "Your tax dollars hard at work. They arrested my family. Happy Holidays!" Just inside the locked door, dozens of DVDs and videotapes with adult titles were piled up after being dropped through a return slot.

A customer who identified himself only as Keith said he was shocked by the arrests and criticized the officers' actions as overzealous.

"It looks like they have got better things to worry about than a little place like this," he said.

The store rented and sold a variety of videos, from G-rated films to musicals to XXX-rated movies.

The women's bails initially were set at $50,000, an amount that angered their lawyer, who argued that high bails should be reserved for drug traffickers and violent offenders.

None of the women has been convicted of crimes in Florida. Bill Lutz, director of the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation, said the store's owner and staff were charged with racketeering because of past violations and their inclusion of hard-core pornography on their shelves.

On Wednesday, Circuit Judge Stan Strickland lowered Hanna's bail to $5,000, and $1,000 each for Cooper and Hart.

"I have been practicing criminal defense for over 20 years, and this is the most outrageous bond I have seen in my career," said family attorney Richard Wilson. "You would think they would have been involved in a plot to commit terrorism, not selling adult books and videos."

Authorities said Hanna flouted county ordinances and operated without a license even though county officials had warned her. The store has been the target of previous MBI investigations for offering X-rated material.

Last summer Hanna and her mother were served with notices to appear on misdemeanor charges of operating an adult business without a license. Those counts were later dropped by the State Attorney's Office, but the more serious investigation by MBI's vice squad was just beginning.

Investigators were attracted to the store by the same sexually suggestive sign used to lure customers because it was so graphic, Lutz said.

Lutz said Jerry's General Store is not zoned for an adult-oriented business, and it is too close to a residential area.

"It's a full-fledged adult store, not only with the adult videos but with adult devices as well," Lutz said. He said the store also sold sex toys.

Some of the movies bought by undercover agents were viewed by agents and then two county judges, who found probable cause for the arrests of the three women.

RawAlex · 12-01-2002

Uri, irregardless of the content of the store, if the rules are in place, you are silly not to follow them. By zoning the store could not do adult business.

Yes, this is "limiting of rights", and I know that some cities and counties use bizarre zoning combinations to make Adult business impossible to operate, but realistically, if they have a good number of people on their side, they should fight to have the zoning changed.

Just because you are operating an adult business does not make you exempt from following the law.

Alex

JMM · 12-12-2002

Quote:

Originally posted by RawAlex@Dec 1 2002, 03:32 PM
Uri, irregardless of the content of the store, if the rules are in place, you are silly not to follow them. By zoning the store could not do adult business.

Yes, this is "limiting of rights", and I know that some cities and counties use bizarre zoning combinations to make Adult business impossible to operate, but realistically, if they have a good number of people on their side, they should fight to have the zoning changed.

Just because you are operating an adult business does not make you exempt from following the law.

Alex

"irregardless"

Is that a Canadian word? It's not a word here in the U.S.

EricP · 12-12-2002

Quote:

irregardless

haha!

Thats funny.

I see where you were going with that....but ya missed it by this much!

EricP · 12-12-2002

Ha! JMM -- Check it out!

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=irregardless

Last edited by EricP at Dec 12 2002, 02:48 AM

RawAlex · 12-12-2002

Eric, apparently Americans use a smaller dictionary than the rest of us.

JMM · 12-12-2002

Quote:

Originally posted by EricP@Dec 11 2002, 11:47 PM
Ha! JMM -- Check it out!

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=irregardless

I know it is in the dictionary now. We added it. Self Esteem is big here in the U.S. We don't want to hurt anyones feelings. The fact remains, it is non-standard and not a word, REGARDLESS of what you may think.

If irregardless were a word, it would mean the opposite of regardless, which is the word he was trying to use. Use of the word irregardless completely changes his post.

RawAlex · 12-12-2002

...and if grandma had wheels, she would have been a streetcar.

JMM, point being, if you are going to run a real world adult business, or any business for that matter, zoning laws apply.

Alex

Hooper · 12-13-2002

I find it amusing that people think these are obscenity charges.

While adult material may be the reason, the fact is that the content is not at issue here. These people sound to me like they were in violation of any number of pretty standard ordinances. My brilliant and astounding legal mind believes that these will probably all be knocked down to misdemeanors and they will be forced to move their business elsewhere. JMHO.

I also got spammed by the adult webmaster newsletter today and they linked to a lawyers board where they were touting two new obscenity cases. In the first the individual sent some very *alternative* porn through the us postal mail to a bad zipcode and in the second the individual was caught downloading child pornography.

http://boards.theadultwebmaster.com/tawmsg...wthread&id=1984

I dont know why, but to me none of these cases really set off my *oh-shit-o-meter* because they are all doing things that are either very extreme (the alternative video), very illegal (the kiddie porn), or very stupid (ignoring local zoning laws).

The day i hear them shutting somebody down for a facial video or an inter-racial porn exclusively for the content is when I think we should begin worrying.

Dianna Vesta · 12-13-2002

That's what I find so bizarre. You can serve hardcore to anyone with a modem but once you send anything tangible - video, sex product, via the US Postal Service you can get rail roaded. Has this happened with UPS and alternate carriers? Does anyone know?

I use to make good money selling products, toys, videos, etc. In fact we had a great mail order business before WWW. There was a long list of counties we did not ship to but the reality was that any county could take us to court based on community standards. It's a risk we all took then.

Once I came onto the web I was so much more visable to the public. I spent 25K building a huge IBM mall because carts weren't quite developed yet. I then started hearing about cases where people felt they were set up because they were so easily tracked because of their web presence. I started cutting back and making the choice to to web sites only. I only need worry about the laws where I'm doing business... or at least for now.

RawAlex · 12-13-2002

Dianna, there are certain areas of the US where adult material is not available for retain, and importing it into those areas is against the law. The transport of this obscene material makes it a federal crime.

MOST of the "obscenity" cases you see out there have to do with this issue, and have less to do with the material itself. Places like Salt Lake City has a community standard that says kissing is also obscene. Sending a tape of an interracial gangbang with anal and facials probably would be judged obscene, even though it isn't for the most part.

No precident (that I am aware of) has been set regarding the transport of materials via computer. The most famous computer obscenity care, "Amateur Action BBS (I think that was the name" was in fact tried only because video tapes were sent through the mail to one of those bad zip codes. Otherwise, they did not have much to work with.

I have found it an interesting precident, however, that most possession of obscene material, especially in the CP area, has gone after the individual end user. Would this suggest that the end user would also be responsible for any "interstate transport", which would limit liabilty to the website owner?

Alex

12-01-2002	#2
RawAlex Members $100 for every ImLive sign-up Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 4,036	Uri, irregardless of the content of the store, if the rules are in place, you are silly not to follow them. By zoning the store could not do adult business. Yes, this is "limiting of rights", and I know that some cities and counties use bizarre zoning combinations to make Adult business impossible to operate, but realistically, if they have a good number of people on their side, they should fight to have the zoning changed. Just because you are operating an adult business does not make you exempt from following the law. Alex __________________ Let's go to the edge of disaster Push the pedal and go a little faster Let's slam into a wall at ramming speed Let's go to the edge of a mountain Jump off and lets start countin' Hit the ground and tell me if it bleeds

12-12-2002	#6
RawAlex Members $100 for every ImLive sign-up Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 4,036	Eric, apparently Americans use a smaller dictionary than the rest of us. __________________ Let's go to the edge of disaster Push the pedal and go a little faster Let's slam into a wall at ramming speed Let's go to the edge of a mountain Jump off and lets start countin' Hit the ground and tell me if it bleeds

12-12-2002	#8
RawAlex Members $100 for every ImLive sign-up Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 4,036	...and if grandma had wheels, she would have been a streetcar. JMM, point being, if you are going to run a real world adult business, or any business for that matter, zoning laws apply. Alex __________________ Let's go to the edge of disaster Push the pedal and go a little faster Let's slam into a wall at ramming speed Let's go to the edge of a mountain Jump off and lets start countin' Hit the ground and tell me if it bleeds

12-13-2002	#9
Hooper Members Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 1,156	I find it amusing that people think these are obscenity charges. While adult material may be the reason, the fact is that the content is not at issue here. These people sound to me like they were in violation of any number of pretty standard ordinances. My brilliant and astounding legal mind believes that these will probably all be knocked down to misdemeanors and they will be forced to move their business elsewhere. JMHO. I also got spammed by the adult webmaster newsletter today and they linked to a lawyers board where they were touting two new obscenity cases. In the first the individual sent some very alternative porn through the us postal mail to a bad zipcode and in the second the individual was caught downloading child pornography. http://boards.theadultwebmaster.com/tawmsg...wthread&id=1984 I dont know why, but to me none of these cases really set off my oh-shit-o-meter because they are all doing things that are either very extreme (the alternative video), very illegal (the kiddie porn), or very stupid (ignoring local zoning laws). The day i hear them shutting somebody down for a facial video or an inter-racial porn exclusively for the content is when I think we should begin worrying. __________________ Quickbuck is paying $100 Per trial join.

12-13-2002	#10
Dianna Vesta Members Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: South Florida Posts: 2,087	That's what I find so bizarre. You can serve hardcore to anyone with a modem but once you send anything tangible - video, sex product, via the US Postal Service you can get rail roaded. Has this happened with UPS and alternate carriers? Does anyone know? I use to make good money selling products, toys, videos, etc. In fact we had a great mail order business before WWW. There was a long list of counties we did not ship to but the reality was that any county could take us to court based on community standards. It's a risk we all took then. Once I came onto the web I was so much more visable to the public. I spent 25K building a huge IBM mall because carts weren't quite developed yet. I then started hearing about cases where people felt they were set up because they were so easily tracked because of their web presence. I started cutting back and making the choice to to web sites only. I only need worry about the laws where I'm doing business... or at least for now. __________________ Live radio and audio downloads have a definite place in marketing and promoting products. Not only will it capture new customers but it is an excellent way to promote new products to existing customers continuing to build good customer relationships. Click here for more info

12-01-2002	#1
Uri Guests Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Tel Aviv, Israel Posts: 120	By all accounts, the adult book and video section of Jerry's General Store on east Colonial Drive did brisk business. At least it did until Tuesday, when Orange County deputy sheriffs descended on the popular family-owned store and arrested Roxie Hanna, 33, her mother, Diana Cooper, 55, and her great-aunt Eileen Hart, 75. Deputies arrested the three women on charges of racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering and distribution of obscene pornography. On the conspiracy charges alone, the women could face up to 30 years in prison. Customers drove up to the Union Park store at lunchtime Wednesday to find a locked door and a message. A handwritten note greeted patrons: "Your tax dollars hard at work. They arrested my family. Happy Holidays!" Just inside the locked door, dozens of DVDs and videotapes with adult titles were piled up after being dropped through a return slot. A customer who identified himself only as Keith said he was shocked by the arrests and criticized the officers' actions as overzealous. "It looks like they have got better things to worry about than a little place like this," he said. The store rented and sold a variety of videos, from G-rated films to musicals to XXX-rated movies. The women's bails initially were set at $50,000, an amount that angered their lawyer, who argued that high bails should be reserved for drug traffickers and violent offenders. None of the women has been convicted of crimes in Florida. Bill Lutz, director of the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation, said the store's owner and staff were charged with racketeering because of past violations and their inclusion of hard-core pornography on their shelves. On Wednesday, Circuit Judge Stan Strickland lowered Hanna's bail to $5,000, and $1,000 each for Cooper and Hart. "I have been practicing criminal defense for over 20 years, and this is the most outrageous bond I have seen in my career," said family attorney Richard Wilson. "You would think they would have been involved in a plot to commit terrorism, not selling adult books and videos." Authorities said Hanna flouted county ordinances and operated without a license even though county officials had warned her. The store has been the target of previous MBI investigations for offering X-rated material. Last summer Hanna and her mother were served with notices to appear on misdemeanor charges of operating an adult business without a license. Those counts were later dropped by the State Attorney's Office, but the more serious investigation by MBI's vice squad was just beginning. Investigators were attracted to the store by the same sexually suggestive sign used to lure customers because it was so graphic, Lutz said. Lutz said Jerry's General Store is not zoned for an adult-oriented business, and it is too close to a residential area. "It's a full-fledged adult store, not only with the adult videos but with adult devices as well," Lutz said. He said the store also sold sex toys. Some of the movies bought by undercover agents were viewed by agents and then two county judges, who found probable cause for the arrests of the three women.

12-12-2002	#5
EricP Members Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 299	Ha! JMM -- Check it out! http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=irregardless Last edited by EricP at Dec 12 2002, 02:48 AM