TAMPA, Fla. — The city of Tampa won’t be quick to forget the trial and conviction of extreme pornographer Paul Little, aka Max Hardcore, anytime soon.
Tampa Tribune columnist Daniel Ruth, known for his liberal views, has blogged in his column, Book of Ruth, on Hardcore being judged by a jury of his peers — the very peers who Ruth says gave an “Oscar-winning performance” during the trial.
In Ruth’s blogpost today , the 59-year-old radio show host exposed his lack of compassion for Hardcore and seemed to revel in the fact that while he deemed Hardcore “a cheesy, déclassé opportunist more interested in profits than common decency,” the 12 jurors who convicted Hardcore had the same lack of character.
Ruth was referring to the book deal that seemed to surface with astonishing speed minutes after Hardcore’s conviction. The St. Petersburg Times reported that the jurors planned to write a book about their jury service.
“While the jury was supposed to be objectively pondering whether a man will spend many years in prison, they were entering into a potential business relationship the success of which could be determined by the outcome of the trial,” Ruth said. “Uh, just where is the real obscenity here? Naughty movies? Or entrepreneurial jurors?”
Still, Ruth was quick to state what side he stands for when he wrote, “This is the fate of someone who makes a living as, not only a pornographer, but also a purveyor of such depraved, sick, twisted (and that's just the opening credits) material, it would make Larry Flynt look like Walt Disney.”
California law prohibits jurors making a book deal until 90 days after they’re dismissed from service, but Florida boasts no such law, which effectively allowed the Hardcore jurors to decide a verdict with the knowledge that a guilty verdict could lead to a lucrative book offer.
“I am aware of no Florida statute which prevents jurors from profiting from their story about their jury duty, once the case is over,” adult industry attorney Larry Walters told XBIZ.
FindLaw.com blogger and attorney Jonna M. Spilbor, who commented about various celebrity trials on her blog said, “Today, especially when it comes to celebrity trials, or those that become celebrity trials, think Scott Peterson — he was a fertilizer salesman, remember — being selected for jury duty is almost like winning the lottery. It leads to lucrative book deals. Movie options. All-expenses- paid interviews in exciting cities. The post-trial moneymaking opportunities for celebrity-trial jurors abound. And it's all perfectly legal —indeed, arguably protected by the First Amendment.”
Spilbor is a legal analyst appearing regularly on MSNBC, CNN Headline News and Fox News Channel.
Members of the Hardcore jury included an accounts receivable clerk with three young children at home, a licensed practical nurse, an insurance claims adjuster and a civil engineer. A pawnshop owner served as the jury foreman.
Jurors in the Max Hardcore obscenity returned a verdict of guilty on 10 federal counts of distributing obscene materials over the Internet and through the mail. His company, MaxWorld Enterprises, was guilty on 10 related counts.
In an unrelated case, jury selection began yesterday in the trial of Stolen Cars Films and LA Media owner Ira Isaacs who faces multiple obscenity-related counts.
The first four obscenity-related counts are in connection with videos entitled “Gang Bang Horse — ‘Pony Sex Game,’” “Mako’s First Time Scat,” “Hollywood Scat Amateurs No. 7,” and “BAE 20.” The indictment alleges that Isaacs shipped “Hollywood Scat Amateurs No. 7,” and “BAE 20” outside the state of California.
The prosecution is the first in Southern California by a Justice Department task force formed in 2005 after Christian conservative groups appealed to the Bush administration to regulate adult content.
Jurors will view hours of hardcore porn, just like in the Hardcore case.