Opinion ID: 444129
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: evidence of community standards

Text: 37 Although five counts are being remanded for a new trial, we have no way of knowing whether the new trial will actually occur. Since there may be a new trial, however, and since the issue may arise in other cases, we think it appropriate to comment on the district court's handling of the comparable evidence offered by defendant on the issue of community standards by which the obscenity of the photographs in counts 2, 3, 5, and 6 is to be judged. 38 A key issue in any obscenity case is the degree of community acceptance or toleration of materials similar to those at issue. See United States v. Pinkus, 579 F.2d 1174, 1175 (9th Cir.), cert. dismissed, 439 U.S. 999, 99 S.Ct. 605, 58 L.Ed.2d 674 (1978); United States v. Womack, 509 F.2d 368, 376-78 (D.C.Cir.1974), cert. denied, 422 U.S. 1022, 95 S.Ct. 2644, 45 L.Ed.2d 681 (1975). To establish that some or all of the photographs did not offend community standards, Petrov called a private investigator who testified that he had visited a number of bookstores and newsstands in Syracuse and other cities in the Northern District of New York, where he purchased various magazines and books. In opposing the admission of defendant's comparable materials, the government contended that even assuming their comparability, their availability in the community does not automatically make them admissible as tending to prove the nonobscenity of the materials which the defendant is charged with circulating. Hamling v. United States, 418 U.S. 87, 125, 94 S.Ct. 2887, 2911, 41 L.Ed.2d 590 (1974); see also United States v. Manarite, 448 F.2d 583, 593 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 947, 92 S.Ct. 298, 30 L.Ed.2d 264 (1971) ([m]ere availability of similar materials by itself means nothing more than other persons are engaged in similar activities). Thus, in addition to availability, the government argued, it must be shown that the proffered materials enjoy a reasonable degree of community acceptance, before they will be admitted. Id. The court sustained the government's objection to most of the material, although it admitted as comparable items a series of bondage and genital mutilation photographs from two magazines, Penthouse and Bounty. The court also admitted photographs of the bookstores and outlets where the investigator had purchased these materials. 39 We recognize the difficulties inherent in attempting to prove a fact as elusive as a community standard; on the other hand, we are uncomfortable with the circularity of the approach suggested by the government, that, in order for the defendant to place comparable photographs in evidence for the purpose of establishing community acceptance, he must first establish the community acceptance. We are also aware of the practical difficulties that would be created by a rule that admitted all comparable materials on the theory that if they were found in the community they were some evidence of community acceptability and community standards. 40 We think a solution is adequately provided for in the Federal Rules of Evidence, which were not in effect when both Hamling and Manarite were decided. Comparable material that is available in the community can be viewed as relevant under Rule 401; but whether it should be admitted in a particular trial is a delicate question to be determined by the balancing process of Rule 403, which requires the trial judge to determine whether the probative value of the particular offer is substantially outweighed by one or more of a variety of considerations, including confusion of the issues, misleading the jury, waste of time, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence. By judicious application of Rule 403, a trial judge can afford the defendant in an obscenity case a fair opportunity to prove that the community displays a reasonable degree of acceptance of comparable material, without needlessly prolonging the trial with cumulative evidence of minimal probative value. 41 When the district court ruled in this case that some of Petrov's proffered comparable evidence was admissible and some was not, it gave no explanation for its ruling. Effective appellate review of such an issue requires the trial court to explain its decision. This is particularly so when the trial court decides an evidentiary question under Rule 403, which requires it to strike a balance between probative value and the competing considerations. If there is a retrial, and if comparable evidence is again offered by Petrov, we expect the trial court to analyze the problem in light of all the circumstances presented at the new trial, and after applying Rule 403, to make clear on the record the reasons for its rulings. See Pinkus, 579 F.2d at 1175.