An Aug. 13 trial date has been set for a Rome comic book store owner charged with giving a minor a graphic novel containing what prosecutors contend is a lewd image.
Gordon Clifford Lee is charged with the distribution of harmful materials to minors. However, when the owner of Legends Comics will face a jury, he will likely find some support from the comic book industry.
During Halloween 2004, an employee of Legends, the comic book store owned by Lee, gave a graphic novel to a child, police said. The book, a preview copy of a historically-based piece, contained a nude image of artist Pablo Picasso.
Since being charged, the comic book community has risen to Lee’s defense through the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
“We find the charges he’s facing to be ridiculous and to pose a danger to any bookseller that sells any variety of illustrative art,” said Charles Brownstein, CBLDF executive director. “It is our belief that Gordon is not guilty of any crime, and our intention is to prove that at trial and to finally clear him of charges that should never have been brought to begin with.”
Lee, who faces as many as two years in prison if convicted, has previously stated his gratitude to the CBLDF.
The organization said it has spent $80,000 on his defense so far and expects to need another $20,000 for the trial.
“With Gordon Lee’s freedom in the balance, the CBLDF needs everyone who values Free Expression in comic books to do his or her part to support this very important case,” states an item on the organization’s Web site — www.cbldf.org.
Lee was originally charged with seven counts, including four felony counts of distribution of material depicting nudity and sexual conduct.
The next year all the felony charges against him were dropped, but Lee could still face jail time on the remaining charges.
Click here for the Web site of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, which is paying for the defense of Gordon Lee.
