Buttman Trial: Dismissed!
After a series of fuck-ups by the United States Government, the obscenity trial against John "Buttman" Stagliano in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has been dismissed. Around 4:30 p.m. this afternoon, Judge Richard Leon decided that the prosecution's case against Stagliano—and two related corporations, John Stagliano Inc. and Evil Angel Productions, Inc.—was "woefully lacking." After the prosecution rested its case, defense attorneys requested that Leon dismiss all counts without seeing any further evidence, and he agreed. He dismissed the jury and thanked them for going through what he considered to be "extraordinary lengths" for the court.
On hand to celebrate the victory: Stagliano's wife, Karen Stagliano, pregnant with a boy; Storm Squirters 2: Target Practice director Joey Silvera; Milk Nymphos performer Lorelei Lee, who just escaped being forced to reveal her real name on the witness stand; documentary filmmaker Simone Grudzen, currently filming a documentary on Lee; and porn performer and director Aurora Snow, covering the trial for AVN.
"They were sloppy," Stagliano told reporters outside the court. "They were doing it for the wrong reasons . . . there wasn't any passion to prosecute it."
5:59 pm
Fan-fucking-tastic! Now, how do we go about reimbursing the American taxpayers for the ridiculous amount of money all this misguided anti-porn crusading is costing us?
10:39 am
excellent coverage, you and your intern were probably #1 out of all the blogs i read (including Reason).
7:25 pm
Hooray!!! A victory for justice.
2:16 pm
A real victory for justice would have been for them to admit they were prosecuting this in DC because the jurors were black and the white actress in the film kept calling a black actor "nigger" that is the real reason they thought they could win this case, this porn is not rape simulation or poop porn and that is all they have been able to get convictions on so far.