Mobile, Alabama- The city of Mobile is moving to close two adult video stores, not because any laws are being broken, according to the attorney representing the businesses, but because some people simply find their merchandise offensive.
"They are not doing anything illegal, but certain people are offended by the content of what is sold inside," said Jeff Deen, the lawyer representing I-10 Video and Express Video. While taking offense is understandable, Deen said, it's not enough to justify shutting down the Tillman's Corner-area businesses.
Licenses for both stores, Express Video at 4400 Rangeline Road, Suite B, and I-10 Video at 5700 Willis Road, are held by Patricia A. Daniel.
A public hearing on whether the business licenses should be revoked is set for Tuesday's 10:30 a.m. City Council meeting at Mobile Government Plaza. Council members could vote on the licenses at the same meeting.
The Mobile Police Department conducted an undercover investigation between October and April after receiving complaints about the two stores, according to a report recently given to council members.
As part of the investigation, 31 people were charged with loitering for the purpose of deviate sexual intercourse, according to the report.
Wanda Cochran, an assistant city attorney, said Friday that formal charges have been presented to a municipal magistrate, but arrest warrants have not been issued.
The loitering charges are set to be heard in Mobile Municipal Court and carry a maximum sentence of a $500 fine and six months in jail, Cochran said.
A Mobile police spokesman, Officer Eric Gallichant, declined comment on the status of the charges, citing what he called a continuing investigation.
In addition to selling adult materials, the businesses charge $8 per customer for unlimited viewing of adult videos in closet-size booths.
"All the video selections are sexually oriented and graphically depict various forms of sexual activity, including sexually oriented 'cartoons,' depicting images of school girls in uniform being raped (by) an adult male," states the report.
At both stores, some customers were observed sharing booths, according to the report. Used condoms were found in the booths, and "patrons were observed having deviate sexual intercourse ... inside the booths with the doors open."
Deen said customers are supposed to keep the booth doors locked and are not allowed to share a booth. There are surveillance cameras in common areas for monitoring to make sure people are complying with all rules, he said.
People who do try to share booths are kicked out, Deen said. He said the store owner did press charges against a man who frequented one of the businesses and harassed customers, "ogling" them.
Each location has a retail sales area, and men routinely "cruise" this area looking for people interested in having sex, the document states.
At I-10 Video, cruising also took place in the parking lot, the report states. "After contact was made, arrangements would be made to either have sex in the car or a booth in the business," according to the report.
The criminal charges were obtained by using a confidential informant equipped with an audio recording device, according to the report.
Deen said his understanding is that undercover police officers outside the store posed as someone wanting to pick up people. "It looks like they manufactured the problem" to make a case against the businesses, he said.
Friday afternoon he was waiting for more information from the city about the complaints against his client.
The city report also states that both businesses have a bulletin board where people post index cards "describing the type of partner anor sexual contact desired." Other customers can pay $2 to obtain the name and telephone number of the person who posted the card.
Deen said he did not see anything sexually explicit on the cards and likened them to personal adds in a newspaper.
"A lot of allegations they have made don't seem to add up to what reality is," Deen said of the city report.
Both businesses are outside Mobile's city limits but inside its 3-mile-wide police jurisdiction. Businesses there must obtain a city business license. The purple I-10 Video building, with a lighted depiction of bursting fireworks on top of a store sign, is a familiar site to interstate travelers.
