Just Another Nut Case

Spartanburg, SC

Here we go again. The morality police have resurfaced. My previous posts of

Morality Police
Ah, Nutz! Not again.
More Nutz
Driving Me Nutz


have prompted me to report on the latest Nutz fiasco.  But first, the incident that started this whole ball rolling involved a ridiculously pompous police chief by the name of Franco Fuda who thought that red plastic nutz hanging from the rear of a pick up truck was obscene. Chief "Fuda fuck up" invoked some out dated traffic law that has yet been removed from the V & T code. Never mind the fact that the last time the law was actually used was in the late 90's, or the fact that it is a broadly absurd piece of legislation that needs to find the nearest trash can. It is also blatantly unconstitutional. I personally, have seen things a lot more offensive than multi-colored, plastic true-to-size (depends on your perspective) testicles.

Obscenity is all about perspective. What one person finds obscene, another might find humorous. While I wouldn't hang these things on my truck, even if I had one, I find the whole thing laughable.


The original Truck Nutz case, Virginia Tice v. Town of Bonneau, has yet to go to trial after 3 postponements. 65 year old Tice is being represented pro bono by a very prominent law firm from Charleston, SC.  


This time around, a Spartanburg County Deputy Sheriff documented that his probable cause for a traffic stop was because a pair of truck nutz was prominently displayed on the rear of the offending vehicle. The driver of the car, Joe Cervantes-Rodriguez, 31, was operating a motor vehicle without a valid drivers license. He was arrested on that charge and was given a written warning ticket on the obscenity display after the driver had already removed the object from his car. Not that a warning ticket means anything, but this Deputy's reasoning for making the traffic stop in the first place is flimsy, at best.


Once again, SC is the target of some well deserved jabs.  This story, along with the original truck nutz incident, has been reported throughout the U.S. Now, Reuters finds this incident newsworthy enough to report it on an international level.


Don't we have more important things to concern ourselves with than making traffic stops over some bulls balls?


http://mynorthwest.com/646/673439/News-Chick-Truck-nuts--obscene-or-free-speech

Nutz to You

FOLLOW UP TO:

Ah, Nutz! Not Again
More Nutz
Driving Me Nutz


Today is D-Day. Today is the day that a 67 year old woman who displayed plastic, red bulls testicles from the bumper of her truck goes on trial for an alleged obscenity violation.

Police Chief Franco Fudo of the Bonneau, SC police dept. played Mr. Morality and found an antiquated traffic law to cite Virginia Tice with, handing her a summons with a bond amount of $445.00. All because she was exercising her rights under the 1st Amendment. No, Truck Nutz or Bulls Balls, are not illegal anywhere in the continental US.
The legislation in SC is written as:

SC Code of Laws 56-5-3885 - "A sticker, decal, emblem, or device is indecent when taken as a whole, it describes, in a patently offensive way, as determined by contemporary community standards, sexual acts, excretory functions, or parts of the human body."

Most police departments in the area have indicated it's a waste of time. Police have better things to do. Also, no one has been prosecuted with this offense since the late 90's when the ACLU stepped in and managed to get the charge dismissed. The law has just never been repealed.

Chief Fuda apparently has too much time on his hands that he must be memorizing the V & T code book.

A rather prestigious law firm in Charleston, SC got wind of Ms. Tice's predicament and offered to represent her pro bono. Ms. Tice's attorney was about to ask for a jury trial, when it was discovered that Police Chief Fuda had already done so, thereby circumventing the defendant's right to choose a jury trial or bench trial.

Today at 10:00 a.m., jury selection begins. The news media, as well as the ACLU, are watching this case closely.
If there isn't another postponement, I'm betting it will be taken care of before jury selection begins. There's too many things wrong with this case to waste the taxpayer's time.

Today's news reports that this trial was postponed yet again because, "not enough potential jurors showed up. What the hell does that mean? You get a subpoena, you go to court.  Chief Fuda seems confident that this will proceed to trial as he is emphatic he will not drop the charges. Right now, he's become the 'judge' of the so-called obscenity statute and is standing in the shoes of the 'prosecutor.' It seems to me that the use of a 'jury' is a minor formality that he's trying to manipulate to his advantage.

Driving Me Nutz

FOLLOW UP TO:

More Nutz
Ah, Nutz, Not Again!
Morality Police - UPDATE
Morality Police


On July 5, 2011, Police Chief Franco Fudo, of the small, podunk town of Bonneau, SC, wrote one 68 year old Virginia Tice a traffic ticket to the tune of $445.00.
He wrote her a ticket for an offense that has been on the books since the early 90's, but has not been used since about 2006.  In 2006, and somewhere in the upstate of SC, an enterprising, and no doubt bored, small town cop wrote a man up for the same traffic offense. By the time it got to court, the ACLU had made some waves and the presiding judge dismissed the case.  It hasn't been used since.  In fact, most "real" police departments tend to shy away from that obsolete and controversial law because....well, they have better things to do.

Wondering what could be so controversial?

Under SC Code of Laws 56-5-3885


"A sticker, decal, emblem, or device is indecent when taken as a whole, it describes, in a patently offensive way, as determined by contemporary community standards, sexual acts, excretory functions, or parts of the human body.

What did she do that was so shameful and indecent?

She had a set of red "Truck Nutz" hanging from the rear bumper of her pick up truck. Chief Fuda thought a red plastic replica of a bull's sex organs (they are also often referred to as Bulls Balls) was "obscene," and by his own authority, declared himself the Chief of the Morality Police.  I am concerned with the Chief's interpretation of that law. If the human body is red, plastic, and the size of bulls balls, then the Chief is quite delusional.

When Ms. Tice's son was interviewed for the local newspaper, he stated that his Mother planned on asking for a jury trial.  This case caught the attention of a local, and rather prestigious, criminal law firm in downtown Charleston, SC and they offered to represent Ms. Tice pro bono.  The attorney for the Savage Law Firm contacted the court on the date of the hearing to ask for a jury trial, only to discover that Chief Fuda has already asked for a jury trial.  "Unprecedented and unheard of" were the words from the mouth of the attorney. One wonders how a defendant's rights can be circumvented in such a manner.  Then again, if you happen to google Chief Fuda's name, you will find he has a history of doing controversial things that don't take into account the meaning of "civil rights" and "due process."  Many people wonder how and why he's still a cop. Did I happen to mention he's married to the town Mayor's daughter? Ah, but that's another story.

The jury trial was scheduled for Wednesday, Sept 21, but the attorney had to ask for a continuance due to conflicting court dates. According to a local news source, the attorney's attempts to get the case dismissed have been unsuccessful.  It appears Fuda isn't budging on this one. The court date is now set for Nov. 2.
Ah, the wheels of justice turn ever so slowly....

--As a note, my research showed that "Truck Nutz" or "Bulls Balls" are legal in...well, at least 49 other states.

Morality Police - UPDATE

Bonneau, SC

A follow up with the Morality Police post from Sunday;

Today's area newspaper reports -

 A jury will decide if a woman who got a hefty traffic ticket for displaying big plastic testicles on the back of her pickup truck violated the state's obscene bumper sticker law.

Virginia Tice planned to appear in traffic court Tuesday to ask for a jury trial if the judge didn't drop the charges. As it turned out, Police Chief Franco Fuda beat her to the punch. Fuda asked for a jury trial before Tice had a chance to appear before the judge.

"The statute says obscenity should be determined by community standards," Fuda said Tuesday afternoon. "I didn't think it was fair for a judge to decide that."

The Savage & Savage law firm will represent Tice when she goes to trial, attorney Scott Bischoff said.

"It's not really a complicated case," he said.

Bischoff said he called Fuda to ask for a jury trial, and Fuda told him he already had requested one.

"I had never heard of that," Bischoff said.

The last major flap over the state's obscene bumper sticker law was in the 1990s, when S.C. Highway Patrol officers were pulling over drivers for decals of the cartoon character Calvin urinating.

A Gaffney couple called for a jury trial, the American Civil Liberties Union defended their right to free speech, and a judge dismissed the case.

Ms. Tice was contacted by a very prestigious law firm from downtown Charleston, SC to represent her pro bono.
Makes me wonder what Chief "Fuda-the-fuck-up" has up his sleeve.  Check out this post from 
Beat and Release.   Beat's article is extremely enlightening about Fuda's background.  
I think Fuda just likes seeing his name in the newspaper and it doesn't matter how controversial or how off the wall it is, he's power hungry and doesn't want people to forget him.  With his own personal history of questionable morals, Fuda shouldn't even be a police officer.  

Morality Police

Bonneau, SC

Nestled in the middle of Berkeley County, SC is a small little village of less than 700 residents that has a police department of 3, including Police Chief Franco Fuda.

Police Chief Fuda must have been bored or maybe there's just not a whole lot of excitement in his little town.  A woman is driving a pick up truck that has a set of big, red, fake bull testicles hanging from the rear.  Yep, Bulls Balls & Big Boy Nuts are popular decorations, especially for the pick up crowd set.  I see them virtually every day.  Big deal.  In my mind, not illegal anymore than the decal of Calvin urinating.  In fact, back in the 90's tickets were actually being written for that decal.  The ACLU eventually stepped in and "obscenity tickets" for that traffic violation were summarily dismissed.  I can't say I ever bought in to that.  I felt like I had better things to do with my time.

Besides, the law, with its "contemporary community standards" seemed contrived. At least that was my opinion.  Like I said, I had better things to do.

SC Code of Laws 56-5-3885 - "A sticker, decal, emblem, or device is indecent when taken as a whole, it describes, in a patently offensive way, as determined by contemporary community standards, sexual acts, excretory functions, or parts of the human body."

Evidently, this arcane law is still on the books.  Who knew?

Chief Fuda approached the female driver of this pick up truck at a gas station as he perhaps found that these big, RED balls were an offensive offense.  Story goes that he gave her the opportunity to remove them, but she refused.  She disagreed with his obscenity assessment and was standing her ground on her 1st amendment right.  He, on the other hand, didn't see it as a free speech issue, but instead he had appointed himself the morality police.

Chief Fuda decided the big RED balls warranted a $445.00 uniform traffic ticket.  The Chief indicated that he was going to let the judge decide this case.
Before he goes to court though, he may want to get his eyes examined.  He told a newspaper reporter that this 8" inch RED decoration was "realistic looking."

I have to say that if I'm given the opportunity to remove something or get a $445. ticket, chances are, I'm going to remove it and bitch about it later. But hey, some people want to be a martyr for the cause. The driver of the pick up plans on asking for a jury trial. Which, last I heard Chief Fuda, is still her constitutional right.

A local reporter contacted 3 other police departments and asked them how they felt about this obscenity bumper sticker law.  You can read their replies in this article.
The real police don't have the time or inclination to be the morality police.