TAMPA – A former porn actress testified today that she enjoyed her work with a hard-core porn producer, who is on trial for federal obscenity charges relating to his movies that depict forced sex, violence, vomiting and urination.
Melissa Nicoletti, 25, who went by the stage name Summer Luv, testified that she acted in the movies because the scenes sounded interesting to her, she enjoyed filming them, and she voluntarily signed up for more work with the producer.
“I’m kind of an extremist,” the perky young blonde explained.
Also today, prosecutors rested their case and a team of defense attorneys asked the judge to throw out the charges, saying they had not been proven. The judge will rule on that request Tuesday morning.
California producer Paul L. Little, who goes by the stage name Max Hardcore, and his company, MaxWorld Entertainment, face five counts each of distributing obscene materials over the Internet and five counts each of distributing obscene material through the mail.
Nicoletti testified that she was 21 when she first met Little. She had worked for other pornography producers but found Little and his company to be more organized and more accommodating of actresses.
“In comparison, it was a lot better,” she testified.
Little took more than an hour to explain each scene, what would happen and ensure that she was willing to play the part, Nicoletti testified.
She said she was paid between $1,000 and $1,500 per scene and up to $10,000 for movies filmed in Brazil.
One time, Nicoletti testified, she backed out of doing a scene at the last minute. Little did not mind and paid her anyway, she said.
She said she eventually got out of the business and now works as an administrative assistant for a construction company in Las Vegas.
“I grew up,” she said. “I had a son and I’m just being a mommy.”
After her testimony, Nicoletti told reporters that she doesn’t understand why prosecutors filed charges against Little.
“I don’t see what the whole crime is,” she said. “It seems like kind of a waste of time to me.”
Jurors must determine if the movies are obscene based on contemporary community standards for the Tampa area.
Defense attorneys argued to U.S. District Judge Susan Bucklew that Little sold his movies to an independent video distributor. That distributor, Jaded Video, sold the movies from its Web site to customers across the country, including Tampa.
The movies were shipped by Little from his California company to the California-based distributor via private shipping company UPS.
Little, his attorneys argued, had no idea who was buying the DVDs, where the customers lived or what method the distributor was using to send the DVDs there.
Jaded Video and its owner are not charged.
Federal prosecutors said Little often addresses his “fans” during the movies, which suggests he knew the movies would be disseminated widely. Little also had language at the end of the movies that directed viewers to his Web site if they wanted to buy a copy. For the purposes of DVD sales, Little’s Web site links to Jaded Video.
Bucklew said she will rule on the defense’s request to drop charges Tuesday morning.
If Little is convicted, each charge includes a maximum punishment of five years’ imprisonment.