After two days of jury selection for Larry Flynt's obscenity trial, a plea bargain has been reached. Flynt and his brother, Jimmy, agreed to have their business, Hustler News and Gifts, replace them as defendants and plead guilty to two counts of pandering obscenity. The other 13 charges against the Flynt brothers have been dropped.
The Flynts must remove all pornographic videos from their store immediately and stop distributing hardcore pornography in Hamilton County. Hustler News and Gifts was fined $10,000--$5,000 each on two counts. If the Flynts violate the plea agreement, the will face reinstatement of charges.
Observers of the case were stunned to hear a plea bargain had been reached. Flynt had been publicly vocal in his proclaimed stance against the perceived injustice of the charges against him.
"I would like to win this case more than anything else in the world," said Flynt. "But it would probably be better for the country if I lost. Because if I win, nothing changes; if I lose, the case can be appealed. That's where you change laws, at the appellate level. And that's what I'm attempting to do now is to get the antiquated obscenity laws off the books."
The self-proclaimed 'smut peddler' was challenging Ohio River, Cincinnati's anti-pornography standards as he faced the task of convincing a jury of his innocence. Flynt, 56, and his brother Jimmy, 52, were charged with engaging in patterns of corrupt activity, conspiracy, pandering obscenity and disseminating material considered to be harmful to minors.
The charges against the Flynt brothers stemmed from the alleged sale of a sex video to a 14-year-old boy at the Hustler Magazine and Gifts shop, managed by Jimmy Flynt, near Cincinnati's Fountain Square. If the brothers had been convicted, each brother could have served up to 24 years in prison and paid $65,000 in fines.
Flynt's trial has twice been postponed because of pneumonia and also required surgery for a urological problem. Flynt's health problems stem from paralysis caused by being shot in 1978 by a man who was irate over an interracial photo spread in Hustler magazine.
As the process of jury selection began on May 10, questionnaires were distributed to potential jurors, warning them they could be subjected to as many as 40 hours of hardcore pornographic videos. The questionnaire asked if they would be able to view the videos as well as be able to discuss sexually explicit material openly with other members of a jury.
The first day's court session was short as Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Patrick Dinkelacker worked to reduce the size of a 65-member jury pool to those most likely to be selected to serve. Dinkelacker dismissed 18 people due to the possibility of personal or financial hardship caused by serving on a trial expected to last four or five weeks.
Flynt was hoped for a jury composed of "people with an open mind and who really believe in their individual rights and civil liberties, and that they have the right to view and read whatever they want to."
The jury would have decided if the videos Flynt sold in Hustler Magazine and Gifts met the community standards test for obscenity, as set by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973. In other words, the jury would have determined if the material lacked political, scientific, literary or artistic value. A Cincinnati jury has done just that in years past, when it convicted Flynt of pandering obscenity in a 1977 court battle.
It will never be known if Flynt would have testified on his own behalf. "That's up to the attorneys," Flynt said. "They'll make that decision late in the trial." His legal team included three attorneys who had defended Flynt in prior cases: Alan Isaacman, Beverly Hills, California; Paul Cambria, Buffalo, New York; and Louis Sirkin, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Both sides are claiming victory in the case. "They gave us what we wanted," Flynt said. "When I originally returned to Cincinnati, it was to get my Hustler magazine distributed in Hamilton County. If prosecutors had told me that Hustler had to go, we would still be up there picking a jury."
"The prosecutors just don't want the hardcore videos sold in Hamilton County. They're not going to interfere with the distribution of the magazine.…It was too good a deal to turn down in one respect, but in another respect it's the kind of a deal that's like French-kissing your sister. You know you shouldn't be doing it, and it's repulsive…especially if you believe in the First Amendment as I do."
Prosecutor Mike Allen stated that Flynt's attorney's initiated plea bargain negotiations on Tuesday night, May 11. "Mr. Flynt came into town looking for a fight and talking a good game," Allen said. "But in the end, he left."
