By Sharon Turco
The Cincinnati Enquirer

After one juror fell asleep and two others averted their eyes during the showing of an adult video, a Hamilton County judge ordered a second mistrial in a pandering obscenity case Wednesday.

The video, Max Hardcore Extreme Vol. 7, was the central piece of evidence in the case against Shawn Jenkins, a Corryville adult bookstore owner.

"Justice is blind to the influence of bias and prejudice, but justice cannot be blind to the evidence," said Common Pleas Judge Richard A. Niehaus after declaring the mistrial. "Justice requires the evidence be reviewed and considered in its entirety."

Nancy Pacey, one juror who turned away, called the video repetitious.

"It was 90 minutes. ... After the first hour it was so unbearable that I had to turn away.

"I was getting sick," she added.

Jenkins' lawyer, H. Louis Sirkin, asked Niehaus for a mistrial Tuesday. The judge sent the jury home, telling them he might declare a mistrial because of allegations of juror inattentiveness. He declared the mistrial Wednesday without recalling the jury.

Two other jurors, called at their homes after being released from jury duty, said they watched the video in its entirety but were glad when it ended.

"The allegedly obscene tape in this case was basically the entire state's case," the judge said. "In obscenity trials, it is incumbent upon the jury to consider the tape in its entirety as a matter of law."

Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen said he plans to try Jenkins again on the charges, for a third time. That hearing date is set for Jan. 12, 2004.

"It's my understanding a juror was looking away in disgust," Allen said. "It speaks volumes about the strength of our case."

Sirkin said Niehaus made the right decision. "People charged with a crime are entitled to a jury of their peers ... a jury that is paying attention," he said.

Pacey, who is in her 60s and had never seen a pornographic video before, said she wasn't sure what to expect.

"I thought it would be bad acting, laughable," she said. "There was no plot at all."

She understands the reason for the mistrial.

"I'm sorry though that they'll have to go through this again," Pacey said.

Two other jurors, Mary Stroud, 45, of Roselawn, and Robert Hatmaker, of Price Hill, said the video was hard to watch, but they knew doing so was their job.

"It's unfortunate that not everyone was paying attention," Stroud said. "We didn't hear the judge's explanation of the law, but I may have leaned toward saying the video violated community standards."

People were asked during jury selection whether or not they felt they could watch the video objectively; all said they could.

"I don't think people understood what they would see," Stroud said.

Hatfield said he thought the video had no "redeeming value ... It surely didn't help raise up our community standards."

Jenkins' case dates to 2001, when an undercover Hamilton County sheriff's deputy bought three tapes from the store, including Maximum Hardcore Extreme, 7.

Hamilton County grand jury indicted Jenkins on Sept. 29, 2001, for the one tape. Jenkins, now 29, was arrested that day at the store.

The case first went to trial in June 2002, but Niehaus declared a mistrial because prosecutors failed to tell Sirkin all the details in the case.

If convicted, Jenkins faces up to a year in prison.

E-mail sturco@enquirer.com