The Pornographer's Daughter by Kristin Battista-Frazee

Author:Kristin Battista-Frazee
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Schwartz Publishing Pty. Ltd

10

The Memphis Trial

In late January 1976, our house was in exactly the same state my mother had left it before going to the hospital—like a snapshot of our lives before her overdose. Open Christmas presents lay at the bottom of the stairs and stacks of folded laundry and holiday decorations were arranged on the dining room table. My father hoped that my mother’s time in Connecticut would be a respite, both for him and for her.

But in the beginning of February, he would have to fly to Memphis to attend pre-trial hearings, and the respite would be over. He was incredulous that he was about to stand trial simply for distributing a movie. And even though he’d stopped distributing Deep Throat in November of the previous year, that wouldn’t stop the legal proceedings. Nothing would, it seemed.

My father also needed a lawyer. So far, he had received counsel from Tony Arnone’s lawyer, Robert “Bob” Smith, a hotshot First Amendment attorney from Atlanta. But Bob had recently advised my father that he needed his own representation. The time to go to Memphis was quickly approaching and there was much left to do.

As Dad put away Christmas decorations, his mind wandered back to the hectic events of the last few years. He had feelings of sadness and regret, of course, but also the pleasure of some successes, at least financially, and of so-far surviving this whole ordeal. He recalled a 1974 trip to the Peraino’s office in Florida, when Bobby DeSalvo had revealed how a good gesture to support Tony Arnone’s growing adult theater business had gone terribly wrong and had altered my father’s life—an event that had been more and more on his mind lately.

“I still can’t figure out why just a few of the distributors were indicted and not everyone,” my father said that day to Bobby, who was busy sorting the Philadelphia proceeds. “It’s not like I was the only one.”

“Well, not everyone has a prime spot at the top of this venture,” said Bobby looking thoughtfully at my father with his grayish-blue eyes.

“What?”

“Anthony, Tony Arnone is your best friend. The two of you are business partners. And you started the AMMA Corporation together, am I right?”

“The AMMA Corporation? How is the AMMA connected to Deep Throat?” My father shook his head, confused. “Tony and his cousin asked me sign as the president of that company years ago to help them open new theaters in Florida.”

“And why would you do that?” Bobby asked, glancing up with one eyebrow raised.

“Because I lived in Philadelphia and they said it would make opening the theaters easier for them and more difficult for Florida law enforcement to shut them down.”

“So you’re saying . . . you don’t know what the AMMA is used for today?”

My father stared blankly.

“Anthony, the AMMA Corporation was pulled off the shelf for our little venture here,” and Bobby made a sweeping hand gesture at the piles of cash.

“When did that happen?” my father asked.

“About a year and a half ago, I guess.

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