Texas trucker John King pled guilty April 18 to selling porn videos from his rig at a truck stop in Lake Township. His January arrest got attention in the first place because he was busted in the first felony obscenity cases after Wood County prosecutor Alan Mayberry warned video storeowners they could be charged if anyone complained to his office about renting "obscene" videos. King's legal team had argued the county enforced the law selectively, busting only out-of-area residents, but the judge ruled there was no evidence of such discrimination. The judge did concur with the defense in ruling 18 tapes confiscated from King's rig couldn't be evidence, because police lacked a search warrant. The Sixth District Court of Appeals, however, argued police had reasonable cause for a search, given that the material was in a vehicle which could have been moved before a warrant was granted. Police were tipped off by a CB radio transmission that King was selling porn videos for $10 apiece from his rig, and an officer arrested King when he saw the tapes in the truck's sleeping area. A similar case involving a New Jersey couple accused of selling porn from their rig is still on appeal. King was sentenced to two years' "community controls sanctions" and fined $1,500.
HAVANA - British glam-rock legend Gary ("Rock and Roll, Part Two") Glitter has reportedly left the country to start a new life with his Cuban-born girlfriend - in Cuba. A Canadian Internet news site, Canoe.ca, cites Q magazine in reporting the 55-year-old singer, who spent two months out of a four-month sentence in prison for possessing child porn and was released in January, is now believed to be living in Cuba with girlfriend Yudenia Sosa Martinez. Both cite a "Martinez family friend" as saying Glitter could provide her with a very rich lifestyle, compared to the average $15-a-month Cuban salary. But the friend also told the publications Martinez kept the singer's legal trouble secret from her family until the story leaked to them, with her brother telling the press the family's been in an uproar ever since. Glitter became a star in the 1970s during the "glam rock" movement, which also spawned David Bowie. His "Rock and Roll, Part Two" was a frequent crowd-rouser at sports events around the world until his child porn conviction. The British press apparently speculated when he was released that he was mulling a move to Cuba.
--- Compiled by Humphrey Pennyworth
