Original Indictment Dismissed Against Gordon Lee
As initially reported by the Rome (GA) News-Tribune, and confirmed by the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), the Floyd County District Attorney’s Office has dismissed an indictment against Gordon Lee, owner of Rome’s Legends and current CBLDF defendant. However, Lee now faces two new, misdemeanor charges stemming from the same incident.
From the CBLDF’s press release regarding the victory:
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When Judge Larry Salmon entered the courtroom shortly after 9:00 a.m. Monday, prosecutors declared the case nolle prosse, meaning that the charges that were to go to trial this week have been dismissed. Prosecutors are re-filing under a new accusation that Lee handed Alternative Comics #2 to a six-year-old minor and his nine-year-old brother, instead of solely to the nine-year-old, as has been previously, and repeatedly, declared.
Lee now faces two misdemeanor counts of Distribution of Materials Harmful to a Minor (OCGA 16-12-103). One count alleges he “did unlawfully… knowingly furnish and disseminate to a minor… a book, pamphlet, magazine and printed matter containing pictures, drawings and visual representation and images of a person or portion of the human body which depict sexually explicit nudity, sexual conduct, and sadomasochistic abuse and which is harmful to minors…” The second count alleges that he disseminated and furnished material containing “explicit and detailed verbal descriptions and narrative accounting of sexual excitement, sexual conduct, and sadomasochist abuse and which taken as a whole is harmful to minors.”
The dismissal of the case against Lee is a victory for the retailer, though the new accusation sets his defense back to square one. The next step will be for prosecutors to bring a new arraignment for Lee, at which point the case proceeds down the long road to trial all over again. Defense Attorney Paul Cadle says, “This is a victory, but it means we have to keep going.”
Cadle adds, “Today’s dismissal is recognition of the strengths of Gordon’s case and our vigorous legal defense of him in this matter. We said all along that these charges are inappropriate and I think we’ve been vindicated by their dismissal. But, if they want to bring further charges, we’ll be back in court again.
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To read more about the case, or to learn more about the CBLDF and/or to become a member, please visit www.cbldf.org.
