Staunton, Virginia- The charges against Staunton’s first porn store and its owner are moving forward. A judge set a trial date for a case that brought two well-known First Amendment rights attorneys and the Feds to Staunton.
The case began when undercover agents bought 12 DVDs from Rick Krial, the owner of After Hours Video, and his clerk Tinsley Embrey. That comes out to 24 hours of video, three working days worth of viewing for a jury.
Commonwealth’s Attorney, Ray Robertson, along with his co-counsel Matthew Buzzelli with the U.S. Department of Justice, said that was too much.
Although, Robertson concedes to watching all 24 hours of the video himself. “It has a desensitizing effect after a while. And it also might anger [the jurors]. Enough’s enough,” Robertson says.
The issue came up as both sides in the case discussed how many trials there should be since Krial and Embrey face multiple indictments. Robertson argued there is too much material for one trial. However, the defense team, consisting of Paul Cambria, Tate Love, Louis Sirkin, and John Hill argued that it would be unfair to their clients to have multiple trials.
“We’re always concerned when a prosecutor picks 20 tapes for example and then says you have to face five trials because it gives them several chances, not only that, it’s extremely expensive,” says Buffalo-based attorney Paul Cambria who’s representing Krial.
Embrey’s attorney, Louis Sirkin added, “In order to make a determination of the obscenities, the jurors are required to view the movies as a whole. Remember, the jurors didn’t pick these particular movies.”
Now, two trials are possible. The first one is on the misdemeanor charges. That will entail jurors watching two movies titled “Sugar Britches” [the VCX Title?} and City Girls: Extreme Gang Bang. The second trial on the felony charges could happen later depending on the outcome of the first.
“We need a fair and objective jury. We need a jury that’s sophisticated to the point of realizing what the standards are in the community for an average adult,” Cambria said.
A pre-trial motions hearing is scheduled for May 27. The trial date for the misdemeanor charges is set for June 17.