Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 3, 1994 TAG: 9407030018
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Kathi Price, a bikini-clad dancer at Girls, Girls, Girls, was convicted in April of dancing too close to customers during a Jan. 7 performance at the Franklin Road nightclub.
After being convicted in General District Court, Price noted an appeal setting the stage for a jury trial in the first test of a Roanoke ordinance that her attorney said violated her First Amendment rights.
But Price decided this week to drop her appeal, according to Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Dennis Nagel.
Price and her attorney, Lance Hale, could not be reached for comment Friday.
The decision means that Price, 24, will be subject to a $250 fine and 10-day suspended jail sentence imposed by General District Judge Richard Pattisall.
At April's hearing, attorneys had argued that Price's dancing fell under an "expressive dance" exemption to a city ordinance regulating nude or exotic dancing. Prosecutors maintained her performance, in which Price stripped down to a bikini top and bottom, did not include an "expression of story, theme or idea" as required under the expressive dance exemption.
No one claimed that Price's attire was in itself a violation of the ordinance. The illegal part came when the bottom of her outfit slipped as she executed a kick step, leading to what an attorney called "the case of the wayward wedgie."
Price was dancing in front of a table at the time, violating a provision in the ordinance that restricts such dancing to an elevated stage equipped with a 4-foot barrier to maintain a distance of at least 6 feet between dancers and spectators.
Billy Harbour, manager of Girls, Girls, Girls, was convicted of aiding and abetting in Price's performance, and received the same fine and suspended jail sentence. He also noted an appeal, but the status of that case was unclear Friday.
by CNB