David Gary Hoover v. Don Byrd, Sheriff of Dallas County Texas

EDITH HOLLAN JONES, Circuit Judge:

The only issue presented for review in this habeas corpus proceeding is whether the Texas Obscenity Statute, Texas Penal Code Annotated, Section 43.21, defines the term “patently offensive” in a manner inconsistent with the First Amendment. The petitioner alleges that the jury in his commercial obscenity criminal trial was improperly charged according to the erroneous statutory definition. We find, after further reflection on this issue which we have previously declined to consider, that the statutory definition passes constitutional muster.

The Supreme Court,…