State v. Johnson

722 P.2d 681, 104 N.M. 430
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 5, 1986
Docket9005
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 722 P.2d 681 (State v. Johnson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Johnson, 722 P.2d 681, 104 N.M. 430 (N.M. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

OPINION

DONNELLY, Judge.

Defendant appeals his conviction of one count of distribution of obscene material in violation of Curry County Ordinance 85-3. Three issues are presented on appeal: (1) denial of admission of defendant's exhibit; (2) denial of tendered instruction; and (3) imposition of a greater sentence following trial de novo in district court. We affirm.

Defendant was arrested and charged with the distribution of sexually-explicit publications in his bookstore outside Clovis. A plainclothes officer purchased three magazines entitled “TV Lust,” “Anal Thrust,” and “Big Butthole Buddies.” The publications contain explicit color photographs of nude men and women and depict scenes of various sexual activity, including oral and anal intercourse.

The ordinance under which defendant was charged prohibits an intentional or knowing display or distribution of an “obscene photograph, drawing, or similar visual representation or other obscene material.” Following a jury trial in the magistrate court, defendant was convicted of violating the ordinance. Defendant appealed to the district court and obtained a trial de novo. A jury in the district court again found defendant guilty of the obscenity charge.

I. EXCLUSION OF EXHIBIT

At trial, the state called Detective Daryl Rice. Detective Rice testified that he had purchased from defendant the three publications which gave rise to the prosecution in this case. After the state rested its case, defendant testified in his own defense. He admitted that he had sold the publications in question to Detective Rice, but denied that the materials were obscene. Defendant tendered as a defense exhibit, a magazine entitled “Adult Video,” which he asserted he had purchased from a local bookstore in Clovis. The trial court refused to admit the exhibit into evidence because defendant offered no evidence concerning the general availability of copies of the publication in the community or the extent of the local distribution of the publication. Defendant contends the exclusion of this exhibit constituted reversible error.

In Roth v. United States, 354 U.S. 476, 77 S.Ct. 1304, 1 L.Ed.2d 1498 (1957), the United States Supreme Court upheld defendants’ convictions for mailing obscene material in violation of federal obscenity statutes. The Court held that obscenity is not expression protected by the First Amendment. Subsequently, the Court determined that obscenity can manifest itself in written and oral description, as well as in pictorial representation. Kaplan v. California, 413 U.S. 115, 93 S.Ct. 2680, 37 L.Ed.2d 492 (1973). See Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15, 93 S.Ct. 2607, 37 L.Ed.2d 419 (1973).

Under the test of obscenity adopted in Roth v. United States, a critical element is “whether to the average person, applying community standards, the dominant theme of material taken as a whole appeals to prurient interest.” 354 U.S. at 489, 77 S.Ct. at 1311 (footnote omitted). In Miller, the Court set out guidelines for the trier of fact and restated this element of the Roth obscenity test as “whether ‘the average person, applying contemporary community standards’ would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest.” Miller v. California, 413 U.S. at 24, 93 S.Ct. at 2615.

A defendant in an obscenity trial may present comparable evidence probative of contemporary community standards. See Flynt v. State, 153 Ga.App. 232, 264 S.E.2d 669, cert. denied, 449 U.S. 888, 101 S.Ct. 245, 66 L.Ed.2d 114 (1980); see also Womack v. United States, 294 F.2d 204 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, 365 U.S. 859, 81 S.Ct. 826, 5 L.Ed.2d 822 (1961). To provide an adequate foundation for the introduction of comparable evidence, defendant must show that the proffered evidence is: (1) similar to the alleged obscene material and (2) enjoys a reasonable degree of community acceptance. See Womack v. United States; see also Flynt v. State. Without such a showing by defendant, the evidence must be excluded as lacking, sufficient probative value. Id.

In the instant case, defendant asserts that the trial court erred in excluding a defense exhibit of published material as comparable evidence. In rejecting defendant’s tender, the trial court indicated that defendant had failed to offer evidence concerning the extent of the distribution of the magazine.

A mere showing of the availability of similar materials in the community is not probative of community standards, absent proof that the material enjoys a reasonable degree of community acceptance. United States v. Manarite, 448 F.2d 583 (2d Cir.1971); see Hamling v. United States, 418 U.S. 87, 94 S.Ct. 2887, 41 L.Ed.2d 590 (1974); see also People v. Heller, 96 Cal.App.3d Supp. 1, 157 Cal.Rptr. 830 (1979). The fact that sexually explicit material was obtained in a particular locality does not establish a reasonable degree of community acceptance. See State v. J-R Distributors, Inc., 82 Wash.2d 584, 512 P.2d 1049 (1973), cert. denied, 418 U.S. 949, 94 S.Ct. 3217, 41 L.Ed.2d 1166 (1974); see also Flynt v. State. Mere availability of similar material by itself means nothing more than other persons are engaged in similar activities. United States v. Manarite.

Here, defendant failed to present evidence of the extent of distribution of the publication or the similarity between the tendered exhibit and the alleged obscene material distributed by defendant. The proffer of evidence contained in the defense exhibit went to “mere availability” rather than to “a reasonable degree of community acceptance.” The admission of evidence, including a determination of whether adequate foundational facts have been presented, rests within the sound discretion of the trial court. See State v. Martinez, 102 N.M. 94, 691 P.2d 887 (Ct.App.1984); see also NMSA 1978, Evid.R. 104(a) (Repl.Pamp.1983). Under these facts, the trial court did not err in denying admission of the exhibit.

II. REFUSAL OF INSTRUCTION

The trial court refused defendant’s requested jury instruction, which defined the term “community” by geographical area as “a vicinity such as the State of New Mexico or an area such as Eastern New Mexico and West Texas.” Curry County Ordinance 85-3 requires the application of “contemporary community standards” to determine whether material is obscene. There are currently no New Mexico Uniform Jury Instructions relating to the offense of distributing obscene material.

Defendant asserts that without this limiting instruction,' the Curry County Ordinance was overbroad and violative of N.M. Const. art.

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Bluebook (online)
722 P.2d 681, 104 N.M. 430, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-johnson-nmctapp-1986.