STAUNTON, VA – If it was City Prosecutor Raymond C. Robertson’s intention to strike fear into the hearts of the Staunton, VA-area adult video shop owners, then he has accomplished his goal. After dropping 16 felony obscenity charges in the lap of both Rick E. Krial and his After Hours Video – in addition to another four misdemeanors each – courtesy of a grand jury decision, Krial says local businesses are “running scared.”The six-person grand jury found itself convened twice during October, with the second call to order coming in order to address Robertson’s contention that Krial and others were dealing in illegal pornography. The jury found Krial alone guilty after viewing bits and pieces of a dozen videos purchased at his store between October 15th and 18th.
“We called them back for this special consideration,” Robertson proudly explained to local press.
According to Robertson, all Krial had to do in order to earn his indictments was sell “hardcore pornography,” something he insists has been illegal for more than 30 years, even if it hasn’t been enforced.
Robertson’s disdain for Krial and his business is obvious when he explains that “Mr. Krial comes into town with all kinds of hoopla and fan fare about how he’s going to open a store that deals exclusively in what I call hardcore pornography, these triple X videos. There’s no other store around here that has done that.”
Nonetheless, Robertson insists that Krial is entirely wrong when he claims to be the victim of selective prosecution – in spite of the fact that Robertson vowed in August that he would not “allow dissemination of pornographic material in Staunton.”
“The obscenity law is that it’s illegal to sell, rent, lend, or distribute any obscene item or offer to do those things or possess them with the intent to sell them,” Robertson explains, assuming that anything hardcore is automatically obscene.
Krial questions Robertson’s claims, however, observing that before he opened his own shop, he checked out the inventory of pre-existing stores. “I did my homework,” he assures.
It would appear that the other shops, which Robertson insists do not and never have carried “XXX movies,” have been doing their homework, as well. Krial claims that a recent tour of the local retail outlets reflects a brand new reality; one that doesn’t include adult content. “They’re running scared, because Roy Robertson is handing out felony charges.”
In addition to Roy Robertson, local merchants carrying erotic materials have had the Citizens’ Task Force Against Pornography to contend with. The group was inspired to begin protesting when Krial’s store opened on October 7th – something that 800 other people have supported by signing a petition being circulated within its doors.
Free speech experts and attorneys are doubtful that Robertson’s charges will survive. Rick Hudson, who works with the First Amendment Center in Nashville opines that in order for an obscenity prosecution to stick, the subject “has to be something really out of the ordinary.”
Although he admits that “It’s generally difficult to get an obscenity conviction,” he also acknowledges that “it’s not unheard of.”
Meanwhile, Robertson finds himself in the perhaps unexpected position of needing to defend his priorities as his actions draw mixed responses from the citizenry. “This case has generated a lot of publicity, but it is not a priority in this office,” he states. “Right now we’re dealing with a double shooting that occurred on Halloween. We’re dealing with gangs. We’re dealing with drugs and I work every day dealing with these situations.”
Situations that, ironically, do not require the attention of the police department to Rick Krail’s After Hours Video.
