California- The fight over Diamond Video World in Grover Beach is headed back to federal court.
City attorneys have asked judges to find owner Steve Diamond in contempt of a court order saying he can’t operate a porn store.
“He is still operating an adult business at that location,” said Ed Richards, an attorney who’s representing the city in the case.
That, Diamond said Friday, is ridiculous.
A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 2 in Santa Ana. If Diamond is found in contempt, a judge could impose a fine, give him an extended amount of time to stop operating his shop as a porn store or even send him to jail, Richards said.
None of that worries Diamond.
“I don’t think the court’s going to ask us to (remove items or close),” he said. “We’re in compliance 100 percent. We made all the changes.”
Early next year, an appeals court will consider Diamond’s appeal of a decision in mid-June barring adult businesses downtown.
While the courts deliberate, Diamond asked that his Grand Avenue business be allowed to stay open. That request was denied, and he was told he either had to close or get rid of the majority of his pornographic material.
Diamond changed the name of his store from Diamond Adult World and removed some of his items, replacing them with old paperback books, decades-old magazines and prom dresses.
The city’s ordinance regulating adult businesses states that a store can legally carry adult material if it takes up no more than 25 percent of the store’s floor space or display area. A store is also considered an adult business if a majority of its sales come from pornographic material.
Two Grover Beach police officers spent three hours taking inventory of the Grover Beach location Oct. 3. They deemed 3,456 items sexually explicit and cataloged 3,224 items that were not.
Richards decided to bring the matter to the court’s attention after reviewing pictures taken during the officers’ count. Those pictures will now be submitted to a judge.
Diamond called the count completely subjective. Items such as lingerie and nylon body stockings were considered “adult” if they were see-through or had racy pictures on the packaging, he said, arguing that they are the same type of items found in department stores.
“Any child can go in any store and purchase any of these items,” Diamond said. “But because it’s in my store, it’s adult.”
No matter how much time, money or effort it takes, Diamond said he has no plans to close his store.
“Unless they kill me,” he said, “I’ll still be there.”