| June 7, 2008 8:00 AM
Pornographer Paul F. Little, who works under the moniker “Max Hardcore,” lives and works in California. But that didn’t stop the Feds from hauling Little 2,500 miles across the country to Tampa, Florida, where they convinced a jury to convict him on 20 counts of obscenity this week. Why Tampa? Because, prosecutors successfully argued, Little’s Websites used some servers there.
Jury-shopping — trying to try your case in a town where the locals are likely to be in your favor — is a time-honored tradition in the U.S. legal system. But the Web opens up a whole new world of possiblities for aggressive prosectors. In this case, says the St. Petersburg Times: “Defense attorneys said Little never knew his site was housed in Tampa, and that prosecutors never produced any evidence that he did.” Presumably he’ll bring that up before a Federal judge, who has the ability to sentence him to a 100 years in prison — 5 years for each count.
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Gallery Carre
