Corn pone, porn pone #2

I'll admit I am a bit surprised that the jury convicted the owner and the corporation of selling obscenity. I just didn't think the prosecution put on a very strong case and I figured it would be hard to get 7 jurors to agree in such a controversial case and topic. But, there were several things yet unknown in yesterday's post.

• The defense team didn't put on any defense. True, they were limited by some of the judge's rulings (couldn't tell of internet access, for example), but I (and many other courtroom observers) found it quite surprising that they offered no evidence and no testimony. For example, they could have put on a therapist who would testify about the use of sexually explicit videos in marriages with sexual dysfunction issues. They could have put on the owners of Pamela's Secrets in Harrisonburg and found out why the advertise in The News Leader nearly every day. They could have . . . . but they didn't. Overconfidence? Arrogance? Did they think they'd so totally dismantled the Commonwealth's case they didn't need to present their own? 
• The second DVD was "pretty rough" in the words of one deputy who saw parts. Anal followed by oral intercourse. Simultaneous multiple penetrations. I can imagine all the jurors were sufficiently shocked and didn't find any scientific, education, political, or any other value in the raw edged animalistic sex. It was this DVD which got the convictions.
• Ray Robertson, once he got warmed up, made a passionate moral plea about Staunton being a special place that they had an opportunity to preserve. The jurors seemed very intent on his words. 

Appeals will certainly follow and in a case with so many contested rulings by the judge, etc. the defense will find numerous grounds to take the case to the next level. But for now, the entire highly touted defense team has to be wondering where they screwed up and what to do next. As for Rick Krial, the owner of After Hours, he must be wondering what the f*^$ happened.