353 A.2d 184 | Conn. Super. Ct. | 1975
Although the facts underlying the arrests of each of these defendants differ in some inconsequential respects, the cases were transferred from the circuits in which they arose to another circuit for trial before the same judge because of the similarity of the issues involved. The defendants have been represented by the same counsel at the trial and during the appeals. The issues raised in each appeal are identical.
On various dates between August 24, 1972, and October 26, 1972, the same state policeman entered bookstores located in Norwich, Groton, New London, and Manchester, each store being operated by one of the defendants. From display racks in each store the officer selected some sex magazines and, after some conversation concerning the items, he purchased them from each defendant. Three of the defendants sold him motion picture films as well as magazines, and the fourth defendant gave him also a cartoon booklet. The conduct or conversation of each defendant indicated that he was aware of the contents of the items involved. No claim has been made that the finding of scienter made by the trial court with respect to each defendant is not supported by the evidence.
The publications collected in these police investigations bear the following titles: "Sensuous Strangers," European Series 106; "Apartment"; "Climax," Sex Porno Danish International No. 209; "Danish Pastry"; "Climax," Sex Porno Danish International No. 106; "Swallow It"; and "Blondie and Connie/Moon Mullins." The films are entitled "Bang One," "V-9" or "Vex-9," and "Den 151." Those materials consist almost entirely of photographs or, in one instance, of cartoon drawings of unclad men and women, sometimes in groups, engaging in a variety of sexual activities, with genitals prominently displayed. They fall within the *642
category of "hard core" pornography as described in these cases: Hamling v. United States,
Several assignments of error, including all of those relating to rulings upon evidence, have not been briefed and are deemed abandoned. Fleischer v. Kregelstein,
The defendants attack the constitutionality of the obscenity statute under which they were convicted, General Statutes
It is a constitutional requirement that a criminal statute be sufficiently explicit to inform a person of ordinary intelligence of what conduct on his part is prohibited. United States v. Harriss,
It is apparent that the definition of "obscenity" which the legislature adopted by enacting General Statutes
It has been consistently held that obscene material is not protected by the First Amendment. Miller v. California,
"The basic guideline for the trier of facts must be: (a) whether `the average person, applying contemporary community standards' would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, Kois v. Wisconsin, supra, at 230, quoting Roth v. United States, supra, at 489; (b) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; and (c) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value . . . . If a state law that regulates obscene material is thus limited, as written or construed, the First Amendment values applicable to the States through the Fourteenth Amendment are adequately protected by the ultimate power of appellate courts to conduct an independent review of constitutional claims when necessary.
The statutes reviewed in Miller I (California Penal Code
Even without the statutory definition of "obscenity" contained in
In fulfillment of our duty as an appellate tribunal we have examined the items in evidence and find ourselves in agreement with the trial court that they are obscene whether pre-Miller I or post-Miller I criteria are applied. Jacobellis v. Ohio,
There is no error.
In this opinion SPEZIALE and SPONZO, Js., concurred.