Town's porn searches at issue in trial

PENSACOLA, Fla., June 24 (UPI) -- Defense lawyers in a Florida obscenity trial plan to use the popular search engine Google to show their client is no less mainstream than a lot of other people.

The plan is to use search words entered into Google to show that sex-related search words are relatively popular in Pensacola, where the trial of a pornographic Web site operator is being held.

The New York Times said Tuesday the approach is based on the current legal rule of thumb, which says obscenity is defined as something that violates community standards.

Defense attorney Lawrence Walters said that publicly accessible search data from Google will likely show that Pensacola Web surfers seek out plenty of racy sites.

"Time and time again you'll have jurors sitting on a jury panel who will condemn material that they routinely consume in private," Walters said. "We can show how people really think and feel and act in their own homes, which, parenthetically, is where this material was intended to be viewed."

Google told The Times it was complying with Walters' subpoena.