Obscenity trial gets 3rd delay

BONNEAU -- The obscenity trial of a woman who was given a ticket for driving a truck displaying fake testicles was delayed again Wednesday, this time because not enough potential jurors showed up.

The law requires 30 people in the jury pool to ensure a fair trial, defense attorney Scott Bischoff said. Only 27 were on the list, and not all those showed up, he said. Bischoff asked for a dismissal.

Municipal Judge DiAne Hood granted a continuance instead. A new trial date will be set after the new year.

"I really applaud Judge Hood for doing what is right to ensure ... a fair trial," Bischoff said.

The town's population is 423, according to the latest census. That includes a little more than 200 eligible jurors, Bischoff said.

Police Chief Franco Fuda, who wrote the $445 ticket, said he was sorry to see people come out for nothing, but has no intention of dropping the charges.

"Sooner or later this trial is going to play out and justice will be served," he said.

Fuda ticketed 67-year-old Virginia

Tice on July 5 after spotting her truck with the so-called Bulls Balls at a gas station. He charged her with displaying an obscene bumper sticker. Tice planned to object to the ticket in traffic court, but Fuda requested a jury trial.

This was the third time the trial has been delayed, although it was the first time jurors showed up and were sent home.

State law says "a sticker, decal, emblem, or device is indecent when taken as a whole, it describes, in a patently offensive way, as determined by contemporary community standards, sexual acts, excretory functions, or parts of the human body."