Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 2, 1993 TAG: 9302020053
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
MERCHANT CHARGED AGAIN OVER RAP TAPE
Vic Vanover is wondering what it will take to kill Abingdon's "Cop Killer" controversy.After a grand jury refused to indict the record store owner for selling an Ice-T cassette tape that included the obscenity-laden song, and after a Washington County jury awarded him $55,000 in a malicious-prosecution lawsuit against the man who wanted him indicted, Vanover was back Monday to where he started - charged with selling music harmful to a juvenile.
It seems that Patrick Mannix, who insists Vanover sold the tape to his 15- year-old son, is not the type to give up easily.
Just two weeks after being hit with the malicious-prosecution verdict, Mannix repeated what got him in trouble. He obtained a second warrant alleging that the owner of Vette Records "displayed for sale a sound recording which is harmful to juveniles, and did knowingly sell the same."
Although the case raises interesting First Amendment questions, it's beginning to sound like a broken record to Vanover.
"There's no way he can win," Vanover said. "He's just beating a dead horse."
Mannix, however, believes other people in Washington County feel the way he does; that young people should not be exposed to the likes of "Cop Killer."
"I did what I did as a parent, and I'll do it again to protect my children, your children and even Mr. Vanover's children," Mannix said last month during the civil trial. He could not be reached for comment Monday.
"Cop Killer" is a rap song about a troubled youth in South Central Los Angeles who decides to go on a shooting spree to avenge police brutality. It includes obscenities directed at police and lyrics such as "I'm 'bout to bust some shots off; I'm 'bout to dust some cops off."
Vanover has said that charging him for selling the tape is a "direct attack on the First Amendment," which assures freedom of expression to recording artists.
But that freedom does not extend to minors under a state law that makes selling or displaying material harmful to juveniles a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in jail.
The law defines "harmful material" as containing descriptions of sexual conduct and meeting a three-part test: That it appeals to the prurient interests of juveniles; that it offends the community's standards of what is suitable for juveniles; and that it lacks serious artistic or political value.
Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney David Saliba, who in October unsuccessfully sought a grand jury indictment against Vanover at Mannix's request, acknowledged then that proving the charge would be a tough task.
Because the grand jury did not indict Vanover, charging him a second time for the same offense does not violate his right of double jeopardy. Mannix obtained the second warrant from a magistrate without the assistance of prosecutors, Saliba said.
The warrant alleges that Vanover sold Ice-T's "Body Count" to Mannix's son in August - about the time a national outcry over "Cop Killer" was ebbing after Ice-T decided to pull the song from his tape.
In his malicious-prosecution lawsuit, Vanover claimed that Mannix had him arrested in retaliation for his son's shoplifting arrest at the store two weeks earlier.
Because he missed a deadline in responding to the lawsuit, Mannix lost in a default judgement. The jury that awarded Vanover $55,000 was asked only to consider compensating him for loss of business and the public humiliation caused by his storefront arrest, handcuffing and brief incarceration.
When Vanover was arrested the second time Monday afternoon, a police officer simply handed him a summons instructing him to appear in court next week.
Vanover said he is not completely surprised at having to go through the whole thing again.
"Some people you just can't say `no' to, and [Mannix] is one of those people," he said.