Matthews, who was charged with 15 felony child pornography counts, has admitted using his home Macintosh computer to send and receive pornographic images of children. He has claimed, however, that he was researching a news story on the subject, and his conduct was protected under the First Amendment. The plea, entered in US District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, is conditioned upon his appeal of the judge's ruling. Should the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reverse the ruling, and allow the First Amendment defense, Matthews will then be given the opportunity to withdraw his guilty plea and face trial. If the ruling is upheld, however, Matthews faces mandatory prison time.
Laws can be wrong.
We said it was constitutionally protected. When the court said it was not, there was no point. Currently, Matthews is at liberty pending his sentencing date, scheduled for Dec. 11. Statham said his client will seek to stay execution of his sentence pending appeal, which would allow him to remain free until the appeal is resolved. In that appeal, Statham plans to argue that federal statutes governing child pornography are unconstitutional.