Howell v. City of Birmingham

This is an obscenity case involving the exhibition of a movie entitled "Honeypie" in violation of Birmingham City Ordinance 16-18 as amended.

The defendant was employed as a clerk and movie projectionist at the Tomkat Theatre in Jefferson County. He was tried and convicted in Municipal Court. He appealed to the Circuit Court, was tried by a jury and fined five hundred dollars. The trial judge imposed a sentence of 180 days hard labor.

I

In Holderfield v. City of Birmingham, Ala.Cr.App.,380 So.2d 990, (1979), this Court held that a jury trial is not constitutionally required for an obscenity…