A federal judge has rejected a magistrate’s recommendation that child pornography charges against experimental filmmaker Lawrence F. Brose be dropped. U. S. District Judge William M. Skretny ruled that the federal indictment against the former CEPA Gallery director should stand.
Skretny, in ruling against Brose, rejected a recommendation by U. S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy that the indictment be dismissed because of flaws in the government’s grand jury presentation.
Brose, who appeared in federal court Monday, has denied the allegations that he possessed about 1,300 child porn images on his laptop. “The defense is that he did not download those images,” said Paul J. Cambria Jr., one of Brose’s lawyers. “That’s the bedrock of the defense.”
Cambria declined to elaborate, but in the past, there have been suggestions from Brose’s supporters that a computer virus may have allowed someone else to access his computer while he was traveling out of the country.
“We’ve charged him with possession,” said Assistant U. S. Attorney Edward H. White. “Whether he’s the person who downloaded those images is irrelevant.”
White added that the government’s evidence indicates Brose was the one who downloaded the images and was well aware that
they were on his hard drive.
Brose, who’s known across the world for experimental films that explore the boundaries of male sexuality, has argued from Day One that the images found on his hard drive were part of his research for an upcoming film.
He has used adult pornographic images in previous films, most notably his 1997 piece, “De Profundis,” a film based on writer Oscar Wilde and the now famous letter he wrote while serving time in prison at the turn of the last century. Prosecutors have argued in the past that even if Brose were researching the images while creating a film, the law makes no special provision for artists doing research.
The government also has noted in court papers that at least four of the 1,300 images found on his hard drive are images of “nude young boys” and that two of those four images picture boys fondling themselves.
Brose was arrested in November 2009 and resigned his job at the CEPA Gallery about six weeks later.
A year later, he was indicted by a grand jury on a felony charge of knowingly possessing child pornography.
Brose’s case has attracted the attention of the arts community here and across the world and has prompted many of his backers to suggest that his prosecution is really about freedom of speech and freedom of expression.
No trial date has been set.
pfairbanks@buffnews.comnull
Article source: http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/buffalo/article670757.ece
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