Appellate Brief for the Appellee, The State of Indiana
Did the trial judge err in pronouncing a death sentence
by denying the existence of any mitigating circumstances, specifically by rejecting the defendant's claim that his extensive viewing of violent pornography rendered him
incapable of distinguishing right from wrong? 5
A. It is scientifically uncertain as to whether exposure to
violent pornography leads to violent sex crimes. 7
1) Even accepting a general agreement that violent
pornography seems to contribute something to violent
attitudes towards women leads to the problem of what
constitutes violent pornography. 9
B. The recognition of such a circumstance would necessarily
lead to the recognition of this as an affirmative defense
to rape and murder, under which persons accused of such
crimes could not be held legally responsible because they
On February 4, 1981, Thomas Schiro, serving a suspended three-year sentence for armed robbery at a halfway house in Evansville, Indiana, was to attend an 8 PM meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. Instead of attending this meeting, he attended a 7 PM AA meeting and then went to a liquor store, where he stole a bottle of liquor. He took the liquor with him to a porn shop, where he watched "quarter movies," depicting "hard-core" sex scenes. He was thrown out of this shop at 9:30 PM when he exposed himself to the woman working as the cashier. Upon leaving the shop, he went to the apartment of Laura Luebbehusen, who lived across the street from his residence. Schiro v. Clark, 963 F.2d 962, 965 (7th Cir. 1992).
He knocked on Ms. Luebbehusen's door and asked if he could use her telephone, saying that his car would not start. After using her telephone, he asked to use her bathroom. Upon exiting her bathroom, he exposed himself to her. Trying to calm her down, he said that he did not want to hurt her, but that he was gay and was trying ...