Porn artist awaits decision
 

A former Fort Frances-area man who?s been dubbed a ?soft porn video artist? will have to wait two months before he learns whether he?ll be subjected to more legal hearings.

Last month, the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned several obscenity convictions against Donald L. Smith and ordered a new trial. However, the Crown hasn?t decided what its next move will be.

?We could seek leave of the Supreme Court of Canada to see if they will want to hear (our) appeal,? Jennifer Woollcombe of the Crown Law Office in Toronto said Thursday.

Crown prosecutors still have 60 days to digest the Court of Appeal decision before making their own decision.

The judgment, released July 7, upholds a conviction and $2,000 fine against Smith for several stories that were sent and posted on one of his websites. However, the court set aside other convictions and ordered a new trial.

On Nov. 27, 2002, Smith was convicted by a Fort Frances jury of two counts of making obscene materials, one count of possessing obscene material for distribution, and two counts of distributing obscene material through Internet websites.

The next day, Superior Court Justice Helen Pierce imposed a $100,000 fine, a period of probation that prohibited him from accessing the Internet, and assigning interests in his websites to the Crown.

The issue dealt with video material available to paying customers on his websites. The images depicted nude women with knife wounds and arrows protruding from their bodies.

The material used a technique to simulate flesh ripping as bullets or other objects appear to pierce the skin.

The trial hinged on what constitutes explicit sex, which is a matter for the jury to decide, Justice S.E. Lang noted in writing the Appeal court?s 13-page decision. However, he said, instructions given to the jury by Pierce before their deliberations defined explicit sexual activity as including acts involving nudity or intimate sexual activity.

?This instruction created a real danger that the jury would believe that nudity alone would suffice to ground an obscenity conviction,? Lang concluded in ordering a new trial.

While that decision represents a victory for Smith, he wasn?t feeling triumphant.

?After reading the decision, I don?t think there were really grounds to order a new trial,? he said in an interview Thursday.

Smith, 50, has degenerative discs and has been unable to work. He decided to take his passion for movies and create videos ?which spoof violence against woman,? and offer it on members-only websites.

?It was about special effects,? Smith stated of the content of his websites, adding there was virtually no sexual activity.

The resulting police investigation, the trial and conviction forced Smith and his family to leave the community of Devlin. They?ve relocated to Kenora.

?Every single cent I was able to accumulate from this is gone ? and we?re in debt,? he said.

If there is a new trial, Smith said he will represent himself.

Woollcombe, who argued Smith?s appeal for the Crown at a hearing Feb. 8, said there could be a long wait if the decision is made to appeal to the Supreme Court and it?s successful.

?It could take quite a while before there would be a new trial if the Supreme Court were to grant leave? to hear the Crown?s appeal, she said.


http://www.chroniclejournal.com/story.shtml?id=28441

That's some sick shit and it shows a person with a warped mind. He should be convicted IMO.

I am suprised people even pay to see that crap :Oh crap