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To be sure, prosecutors face a number of hazards in prosecuting obscenity. They <br />include inadequate training in this specialized area of law. attempts by defense <br />attorneys to remove jurors who find pornography offensive, the offering into evidence of <br />polls and sunreys through expert testimony to prove tolerant community standards, <br />efforts to guide jurors with jury instructions favorable to the defense, and <br />discouragement with unsuccessful prosecutions. <br />But the hazards can be overcome. Alan E. Sears, former executive director of the <br />U.S. Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography has stated: <br />Prosecutors can successfully obtain obscenity convictions in virtually <br />any jurisdiction in the United States. In order to obtain a conviction, it is <br />Incumbent upon a prosecutor to prepare well, know the law, not f^l Into the <br />"one case syndrome* trap, obtain a representative jury through proper voir <br />dire, keep the focus of the trial on the unlawful conduct of the defendant, and .. , i. . <br />obtain legally sound instructions. <br />Sears, "How To Lose A Pornography Case,* The COL Reporter (n.d.). <br />•• • <br />The Working Group heard testimony from prosecutors >who have purged <br />obscenity cases nationally regarding effective ’ways to prosecute obscenity cases. <br />Materials can be bought or rented, rather than seized under warrant In the absence of <br />survey data, community standards can be left to the wisdom of the jury. In that case, <br />experts should be prepared to. testify if the defense attempts to make a statistical case <br />that the material is not obscene. Prosecution of obscenity is also likely to bo most <br />affective if initial prosecutiorts focus on materials which are patSntly offensive to the' <br />community, such as those irrvolving children, violence or beastiality. <br />The experience of other cities has demonstrated that vigorous and sustained <br />anforcement of obscenity statutes can sharply reduce or virtually eliminate sexually <br />oriented businesses. Cincinnati, Omaha, Atlanta, Charlotte, Indianapolis and Fbrt <br />Lauderdale were cited to the Working Group as examples of cities which have <br />•23-