Attorney Roger Jon Diamond told XBIZ on Wednesday that he expects the government to file a reply as early as Monday on his motion that could derail the Justice Department’s numerous claims against the scat pornographer.
“I believe that we’ve applied the principles of law in this [filing], and we expect to win,” Diamond said.
Diamond claims in his motion to U.S. District Court in Los Angeles that Isaacs shouldn’t be retried in the case because of the double jeopardy clause of the 5th Amendment. He also said that there was no manifest necessity for the declaration of the mistrial, which was declared without Isaacs consent.
Further, Diamond said, Judge Alex Kozinski improperly recused himself, and if he did properly recuse himself, another judge could have replaced him.
If the motion is denied, Diamond said, he plans to appeal that challenge to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Isaacs, who owns Stolen Cars Films and LA Media, faces multiple obscenity-related counts in the case. He specifically was charged with two counts of using a common carrier and interactive computer service for interstate commerce in obscene films.
The first four obscenity-related counts are in connection with videos entitled “Gang Bang Horse — ‘Pony Sex Game,’” “Mako’s First Time Scat,” “Hollywood Scat Amateurs No. 7,” and “BAE 20.” The indictment alleges that Isaacs shipped “Hollywood Scat Amateurs No. 7,” and “BAE 20” outside the state of California.
Among the items that the indictment seeks forfeiture of are three domain names and websites owned by Isaacs, ScatMovies.com, ScatCinemax.com and StolenCarFilms.com.
Kozinski, a longtime 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals jurist, presided in the Isaacs case when it was revealed that he posted numerous sexually explicit images on a website.
At the time, Kozinski said it was strictly by chance that he wound up presiding over the Issacs trial in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Appeals court judges occasionally hear criminal cases when they have free time on their calendars and the Isaacs case was one of two he was given, he said.
Kozinski said that some of the material was inappropriate, although he defended other sexually explicit content as "funny."
Kozinski said that he thought the site was private and that he was not aware the images could be seen by the public, although he also said he had shared some material on the site with friends.
The sexually explicit material on Alex.Kozinski.com was extensive. There were images of masturbation, public sex and contortionist sex. There was a slide show striptease featuring a transsexual and a folder that contained a series of photos of women's crotches as seen through snug-fitting clothing or underwear. There also were themes of defecation and urination, though they are not presented in a sexual context.
If convicted, Isaacs could face up to five years in prison for each count in the indictment, according to the Justice Department.