Judge Refuses To Dismiss Pornography Charges

A Skagit County judge has refused to dismiss pornography charges filed against a newsstand owner and the store manager for selling an adults-only magazine devoted to rape.

Defense attorney Breean Beggs asked Skagit County Superior Court Judge Michael Rickert on Wednesday to throw out charges of promoting pornography against Ira Stohl and Kristina Hjelsand.

Beggs argued that Whatcom County Prosecutor David McEachran did not say, in an affidavit filed Feb. 14, that the magazine Answer Me! would incite lust or sexual violence in Whatcom County or that it lacked serious literary, artistic or political value.The charges should be dismissed because McEachran never adequately justified the arrests and subsequent charges, Beggs said.

But Rickert disagreed.

He said McEachran did substantiate probable cause for the charges. The judge cited elements in the five-page affidavit, including the fact that Answer Me! was displayed and sold for profit by the defendants and that community members complained about its contents.

Stohl, owner of The Newstand International, and Hjelsand, the manager, were charged in February after briefly offering the magazine for sale. About 10 copies were sold.

They face a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The trial is to start July 24.