-- When Raymond Pistol, owner of the Showgirl Video and Talk of the Town clubs in Las Vegas, called AVN in late March and informed us that he was to be the target of a "kangaroo court" hearing, we had trouble believing we'd understood him correctly.\n But when May 20 rolled around, that's exactly the type of proceeding we witnessed, as four members of the Las Vegas City Council, together with the City Attorney, convened a non-judicial hearing and attempted to impose a $50,000 fine on Talk of the Town for allowing alcohol on its premises while nude dancers were performing.\nAs the law currently stands in Las Vegas, bars featuring topless dancers are allowed to sell liquor to their customers, but once that bikini bottom comes off, as it does in clubs such as Talk of the Town, viewers are supposed to sober up and stick with soda and juice as beverages.\n Enforcement of alcohol-use violations falls on Las Vegas' Department of Finance and Business Services, and several license officers from that department, which has no police powers, conducted an undercover sting operation at Talk of the Town during the early months of 1998.\n According to sworn statements made at the hearing, on several dates, license officers entered Talk of the Town's dance club (there's also an adult bookstore at the location, with the two areas connected by a narrow hallway) allegedly displaying and drinking from bottles and cans of beer and, in one instance, Wild Turkey. The officers claimed that none of the club's staff asked them to remove the booze or stop drinking, and allegedly even offered the officers cups in which to put their beer.\n After approximately five such visits, a citation was issued to Talk of the Town, and the department then attempted to levy a $50,000 fine on the club, as it had done to several other clubs in town.\n But club owner Raymond Pistol wasn't about to stand for it, so he hired prominent local attorney Dominic Gentile to defend him, and asked for a hearing on the citation.\n Things quickly became complicated. Since Talk of the Town had a "non-privileged" business license, meaning that it was not allowed to serve alcohol, the question immediately arose whether license officers, which typically issue citations to privileged businesses such as topless bars, had any authority to issue a similar citation to a non-privileged business. Additionally, it appeared that no one had ever asked for a hearing on this type of citation before, and there was no legal precedent regarding which tribunal had the power to rule on the validity of the citation; hence the hearing before the City Council.\n But the hearing itself presented even more problems. Councilman (and Mayor Pro Tem) Michael McDonald chaired the proceeding, directing City Attorney Brad Jheric to swear witnesses and receive evidence, all of which Gentile objected to since the hearing was non-judicial, and that the City Council had no authority to impose a fine even if it wanted to. Gentile also argued that because the citation had been issued weeks after most of the events complained of had taken place, he was at an extreme disadvantage in calling witnesses, since both patrons and dancers tended to be transients and could not now be located. The hearing proceeded nonetheless.\n Prosecutor Philip Henry interrogated several license officers, all of whom stated that they'd drunk at least one beer while at the club, often leaving several cans behind, then drove home. Gentile was quick to seize on such statements, both to cast doubt on the recollections of these possibly-intoxicated witnesses, and to chastise Henry and the officers' superior, James DiFiore, for failing to preserve evidence; namely, the empty beer cans and the remnants of the six-packs and bottle of Wild Turkey.\n But after more than two hours of "testimony" and argument, the Council decided that there had indeed been alcohol present while nude dancers performed at Talk of the Town. Realizing, however, that it had no power to levy a fine, the Council declared that it would suspend the club's business license for three weeks - which Prosecutor Henry had noted earlier would cost Pistol just about $50,000.\n "This so-called åruling' is a complete travesty," said Pistol after the hearing had adjourned. "They had no power to do what they did, and I'm going to fight this decision tooth and nail even if it costs me more than $50,000 to do it."\n And fight he would. On June 11, Pistol and Talk of the Town filed suit in state court against the City of Las Vegas and its Department of Finance and Business Services, with Gentile obtaining a stay of the closure "pending further order of the Court."\n Pistol was happy.\n "The judge we've been assigned to has a head on his shoulders and understands the First Amendment," Pistol declared. "I feel like we got two victories today."\n "Stays are pretty good things," he continued. "We got a permanent stay in our federal case in Los Angeles that lasted ten years. Can't ask for much more than that - except justice."
All models were at least 18 years old at the time of their performance. 18 U.S.C. 2257 Record-Keeping Requirements Compliance Statement.
