ROME, GA — Comic book retailer Gordon Lee is standing trial for two misdemeanor counts of distributing harmful material to minors and faces penalties of up to a year in prison and $1,000 in fines for each count, if convicted. His trial began yesterday. Lee’s day in court comes after nearly three years of legal proceedings arising from the Halloween 2004 distribution of Alternative Comics #2, a Free Comic Book Day sampler which featured an excerpt from the critically acclaimed graphic novel The Salon that depicted Pablo Picasso in the nude, and was accidentally handed to a minor.“This case has broad consequences for all retailers of First Amendment protected material,” says Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Executive Director Charles Brownstein. “If Gordon is found guilty, it would establish a precedent that makes the seller of any book, magazine, or film depicting non-sexual nudity vulnerable to a similar prosecution in the State of Georgia.” He adds, ” We’re confident that Gordon is not guilty of the charges he’s accused of, and that the work in question comes nowhere near the threshold the law requires to deem a work harmful to minors.”
“It’s appalling that these charges were brought in the first place,” Brownstein says. “It’s outrageous that it’s taken nearly three years, a complete change of facts by the prosecution midstream, and tens of thousands of dollars for Gordon to get his day in court.”
In the comic in question, the first meeting between Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso is shown. On three pages of the eight page section, Picasso is depicted in the nude, a factually accurate detail for the period during which the story is set. There is no sexual content in the story.
Lee has publicly and privately apologized for handing the comic to the child, but was arrested anyway.
The CBLDF has spent almost $80,000 to help Lee with his defense.
“I can only shake my head at the fact that the case has come this far, and that the prosecution appears ready and willing to sink even more of Rome’s public resources into prosecuting such a merit less misdemeanor,” Brownstein added. “That said, we intend to finish the job we started: to continue our march to prove Mr. Lee’s innocence, and to ensure that no retailer in Georgia is harmed by any bad precedent that could arise from a conviction in this case.”
