Opinion ID: 2209739
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 19

Heading: Relevance to Contemporary Community Standards

Text: Harrold first argues that the CableVision rules provide relevant evidence of the contemporary community standards. A defendant in a criminal obscenity case has a right to introduce evidence pertaining to the community standard. Main Street Movies v. Wellman, 251 Neb. 367, 557 N.W.2d 641 (1997) (citing State v. Little Art Corp., 189 Neb. 681, 204 N.W.2d 574 (1973), vacated on other grounds 414 U.S. 992, 94 S.Ct. 345, 38 L.Ed.2d 231). The question, then, is whether the CableVision rules pertained to the community standard. The rules themselves are primarily concerned with technical aspects of public access broadcasting, such as when and where tapes must be provided to CableVision and when CableVision's studio facilities would be made available for the use of potential broadcasters. Section VII of the rules, however, pertains to Program Content. That section defines obscenity in the exact language of § 28-807(10). The CableVision rules thus mention community standards, as part of the language borrowed from § 28-807(10) and thus secondhand from Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15, 93 S.Ct. 2607, 37 L.Ed.2d 419 (1973). The rules do not, however, define community standards in any way, nor do the rules provide any examples or substantive guidance regarding what material might or might not offend the community standards. Given this fact, we are not persuaded that the CableVision rules would provide relevant evidence of community standards. The rules do nothing more than reiterate the definition of obscenity on which the jury was ultimately instructed by the court. The rules provide no guidance to the jury on how to determine community standards, and thus, they are not relevant to that issue. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in so finding.