Appeal filed in Starship Obscenity Case – The Newnan Times-Herald

An appeal has been filed in Coweta Superior Court over last week’s ruling finding that the Coweta Starship store location had violated the county’s obscenity ordinance.

Attorneys for Starship have filed for a “writ of certiorari” in Coweta Superior Court. The case has been assigned to Judge Quillian Baldwin.

On Aug. 5., Coweta Chief Magistrate James Stripling ruled that the Starship store had violated the ordinance by selling sexual devices for reasons other than those that are permitted. Under Coweta’s obscenity law, any device that is “designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs” can only be sold for a “bona fide medical, scientific, educational, legislative, judicial, or law enforcement purpose.”

Stripling made his ruling after a short hearing in Coweta Magistrate Court.

One of the issues in the hearing, and one that is laid out in the appeal, is whether or not Starship sold anything. The citation, issued by Coweta Code Enforcement Officer Tim Shellnut, is for the sale of the items, even though he did not buy one or witness any being sold. It’s also forbidden under the ordinance to offer the items for sale or to possess them with intent to sell.

Starship Attorney Alan Begner had initially asked for a “directed verdict” based on that issue, but later withdrew that motion so that the case could be heard on its merits.

via Appeal filed in Starship Obscenity Case – The Newnan Times-Herald.