Fetish Filmmaker Credits 75-Year-Old Juror in Snowman Sweater for 2nd Mistrial in Obscenity Case
A fetish filmmaker facing a criminal obscenity case has for the second time won a mistrial in federal court in Los Angeles.
This time, Ira Isaacs tells the Los Angeles Times, a 75-year-old juror who wore a Christmas-themed sweater featuring snowmen to court one day last week was one of two holdouts against conviction.
She told Isaacs after a mistrial was declared that her late husband had produced horror films and said she saw some artistic merit in the films he produces and distributes, which feature bestiality and scatology. Indeed, during a court screening last week of a Japanese film featuring bestiality, the 75-year-old woman watched the screen as other jurors averted their eyes, the newspaper recounts.
The second holdout was also a woman, according to Isaacs.
Testifying in his own defense, he had called himself a “shock artist” inspired by Marcel Duchamp and Robert Rauschenberg, among others.
The Department of Justice and attorneys on the case didn’t immediately respond to the newspaper’s request for comment.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Soon to be Playing at LA Federal Courthouse: Hard-Core Porn”
ABAJournal.com: “Adult Filmmaker Loses Double Jeopardy Bid Based on Kozinski Mistrial Declaration”
