Saturday, June 16, 2007

INFAMOUS VIDEOS: Larry Flynt and Jerry Falwell Face-Off - 1983

Nearly a quarter of a century ago, Larry Flynt, Hustler magazine's founder and publisher - and without a doubt one of American pop culture's most colorful characters - turned an Ohio courtroom into a twisted mini-circus of bickering, joking and other antics clearly demonstrated in this fascinating and bizarre videotaped deposition.

The deposition was ordered by a court after Rev. Jerry Falwell, who died in May, filed a lawsuit in 1983 against Flynt for libel.

The controversial Hustler publisher ran a full-paged parody in the magazine claiming Falwell committed incest with his mother in an outhouse.

On the video, Flynt openly mocks the legal proceeding, repeatedly answering "no" to the common swearing in: “Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” Flynt refused to answer "yes".

The defiant Flynt appears medicated and he stares and smirks at Falwell (who is off-camera). At one point, Flynt actually laughs at Falwell.

He also claimed to be just about everyone - from Christopher Columbus to Jesus Christ - but himself, never stating his full name for the court record.

Flynt appears on the video in a hospital bed because of the paralysis he suffered from an assassin’s bullet a couple of years earlier.

He is also handcuffed which infuriated him. Flynt repeatedly informed the court that he would not cooperate until the handcuffs were removed. In the video, Flynt argues with the judge that his attorney made a deal with the court that there would be no handcuffs.

No matter what you think of Larry Flynt, what possibly was the threat from a paralyzed and medicated man in a hospital bed and who has no documented history of violence?

It's clear the court treated Flynt unfairly in that respect, considering that many fully able bodied defendants on trial for murder and rape have been allowed to appear in court without handcuffs for decades.

Defense attorney lobby groups have done a good job advocating that the the Constitution states that a defendant is innocence until proven guilty by a jury of peers. Handcuffs and shackles (with the exception of violent or potentially violent) can have undue influence on jurors to the defendant's detriment as various studies have found.

The fact that Flynt was handcuffed for this particular deposition while in a hospital bed was just plain ridiculous, and Flynt makes that very clear in this video clip.

This would never happen nowadays, especially with a PARALYZED guy in a hospital bed. It is clear that the government wanted to make a mockery of Flynt in Falwell's favor.

Ultimately, Flynt won the case and that was that.

Ironically, and even flabbergasting to some, Flynt had a change of faith in years to follow. He actually turned back to the church, became friends with Falwell, and he says that even though they totally disagreed on most issues, the two once-rivals respected one another's veracity in fighting for their beliefs and standing by their convictions.

Perhaps in the interest of politeness and civility, the two became "friends", but Flynt diluted his credibility with some, especially the left now which was so much part of his struggle to safeguard First Amendment rights.

Labels: Famous Deaths, First Amendment Rights, Flynt Lawsuit, Flynt Video Deposition, Free Speech, Hustler Magazine, Jerry Falwell, Larry Flynt, Larry Flynt Video, Playboy, Video History, Viral Videos

posted by Googe | 8:15 PM   

 

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