By KATHY OLDHAM
kathy@du2.byu.edu
A highly publicized trial that has been in the works for more than two and a half years and could have set far-reaching legal precedents in Utah County came to an end yesterday after only two hours of jury deliberation.
'Not guilty' was the verdict in the Movie Buffs pornography trial. The four-woman, two-man jury found Larry W. Peterman innocent on all 15 Class A misdemeanor charges of distributing pornography.
Jury members said they did not discuss whether or not the movies were pornographic so much as they discussed whether or not Peterman knew his distribution was illegal.
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'It came down to a matter of law. He (Peterman) felt he was operating under the law,' said jury member Kimberly Clem. She said Lehi City Council should have done more investigating if they didn't understand the nature of the movies Peterman had stocked in his stores.
Concerned about what material might be contained in the Lehi store, the city council sent Lehi Police Chief Carl Zimmerman to check out the Movie Buffs store in Layton. After hearing Chief Zimmerman's report about the content of the adult room in Layton, the council granted Peterman a business licence.
Then in October 1996, without ever contacting Peterman, Utah County Sheriffs raided Movie Buffs stores in both American Fork and Lehi and seized more than 1,000 videos.
Betty Gleason another member of the jury said although the main issue the jury discussed was whether or not Peterman thought he was breaking the law, she also felt that by law the videos were not pornographic.
Gleason also said having to serve on this jury was hard. 'Sometimes I went home crying. It was hard on me and it was hard on my family, but it's over and I did my job,' Gleason said.
Defense attorney Randy Spencer said he was pleased but not surprised by the verdict reached by the jury. 'I feel the evidence was very clear, ' he said. Spencer also said he didn't think the case should have come to trial at all. He said this was a case about freedom and fundamental fairness of the law and that the 'not guilty' was the right verdict.
Peterman said he was very relieved the trial is finally over.
He said this verdict reaffirmed his faith in the judicial system.
'Last trial we were not able to put on a defense,' Peterman said. He said he felt like the jury heard the truth this time. Peterman's first trial ended in a hung-jury last summer.
'Utah County people are as good as any in the world. I'm proud of the fact there was justice today,' Peterman said.
Peterman said as of now he hasn't made decided about what to do in the future. He said he is just going to try and pick up the pieces now and move on.