Wilson, operator of NowThatsFuckedUp.com, was charged with 300 misdemeanor charges and one felony obscenity charge after law enforcement officials raided his Lakeland, Fla., home in late October.
Walters asked Circuit Judge Dale Durrance to drop the case based on a number of factors, including what Walters sees as the unconstitutionality and vagueness of Florida’s obscenity law.
Walters also argued that the federal government, not the state, should have jurisdiction over the Internet, and that because the Internet is a global medium it is very difficult to judge content based on “contemporary community standards” in any given area.
“With the advent of Internet communications, the determination of the relevant community in obscenity cases has become exponentially more difficult,” said Walters.
Walters also argued that when law enforcement officials presented pictures taken from Wilson’s site they only presented a small selection of the available content.
Florida’s obscenity statute requires a work be considered “as a whole” before it is deemed obscene.
Wilson’s website, which primarily hosts amateur wife and girlfriend photos, stirred considerable controversy in October when it was discovered that U.S. Army soldiers may have been posting images of dead Iraqi and Afghan citizens on the site in exchange for free access to the adult content.
Walters has hinted that political motivation higher up may have been behind his client’s arrest.
“We want to know where this complaint is coming from and why Wilson was chosen among the thousands of webmasters out there,” said Walters. “Given the fact that he had pictures of war dead on his site we have significant concerns that there is some political motivation here.”
