Jury acquits owner in Athens obscenity case

ATHENS - A State Court jury has acquitted the owner of an adult novelty store of obscenity charges after sitting through seven hours of graphic sex videotapes over three days of trial. <br> <br> ``I&#39;m extremely happy about the verdict,&#39;&#39; Rick South said after Wednesday&#39;s verdict. ``I think it will hopefully show that Athens accepts these materials and hopefully, the Athens-Clarke government won&#39;t prosecute for things that should be private.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> South, the owner of a store called Experience, was charged with two counts of misdemeanor distribution of obscene materials last summer after undercover Athens-Clarke detectives bought sexually explicit videos, magazines and sex toys from the store. <br> <br> Prosecutor Kevin Gonzalez said the jury&#39;s decision didn&#39;t rule out future obscenity prosecutions. <br> <br> ``I think everything has to be looked at on a case-by-case basis,&#39;&#39; Gonzalez said. ``Obscenity requires a jury determination, and as far as these materials go, they obviously didn&#39;t think they were obscene.&#39;&#39;