Disgusted public and radio host get on record

STEVE SMITH

So, three boys in a high-profile gang-rape trial got off the hook

this time.

A jury deadlocked on Monday forcing the judge to declare a

mistrial in the case of three teenage boys accused to raping and

assaulting an unconscious 16-year-old girl.

The defense celebrated by announcing that Joseph Cavallo, the

attorney for one of the boys, Gregory Haidl, will be leaving the case

in order to spend more time with his family.

Maybe this trial was a wake-up call for Cavallo. Maybe he saw that

spending more time with one’s kids can help prevent the kind of

unsupervised, disgusting behavior conducted by the three boys (who

admit to the deeds, but claim that she was conscious and consented.)

According to the Los Angeles Times, Cavallo was “bothered” by a

story in OC Weekly that described him as “one who spits out

17-year-old girls.”

So, Cavallo spends weeks trashing the alleged rape victim in far

worse fashion, but can’t seem to stomach the same treatment when it

is directed at him.

The mistrial seems to me to be a big win for the prosecution,

which should consider it a dry run for the retrial, the real main

event. Now they know that the videotape on which they had rested

their case is not bulletproof. They know that the defense is likely

to bring back some “expert” witness who will claim that the girl was

conscious, to which I will continue to say, “So what?”

She was 16 and the boys admitted the behavior -- why aren’t they

in jail for years?

The mistrial prompted a letter by Shannon Curry of Newport Beach

who wrote that “We live in a rape culture ... “ and “Sex is not

talked about and so it becomes an ambiguous and potentially dangerous

act.”

Well, I don’t live in a rape culture, and I don’t know anyone who

does. I live in a society that regularly condemns, prosecutes and

convicts rapists. Not all of them and perhaps not even enough of

them, but that doesn’t qualify us as a “rape culture.” And I live in

a society that is increasingly vocal about their disgust with just

how far the envelope is being pushed.

The problem is not that “sex is not talked about,” the problem is

that it is talked about in casual, unhealthy terms, in places such as

magazines in supermarket checkout stands, leaving young people to

believe that promiscuity and deviance such as that performed by the

boys is mainstream and is OK.

It is not.

Here, I must make an important point. I don’t care what two

consenting adults do sexually in private, as long as they are not

breaking any laws. What I object to, and have now for many years, are

the increasing number of public displays of sexual innuendo and the

surprise attacks against parents who are not given the opportunity to

first determine whether the content is appropriate for their kids.

Today, I am pleased to announce another hero in the fight against

the madness: Gary Bryan, the morning host of radio station K-EARTH

(101.1 FM).

Several days ago, Bryan was “killing time” at the Tower Records

store in Sherman Oaks when he heard a highly obscene rap song being

played over the store’s sound system. The song, according to Bryan,

contained a lot of foul language. The song upset Bryan, but then he

saw a little girl in the store, one he estimated to be about 5 or 6

years old, and his blood began to boil.

Bryan’s heroism did not come quickly, and he did not seize the

moment to tell the store manager that he was offended by the song.

That came the next day when he realized that someone had to speak up

about this, and he launched his own “F bomb” on the air. In this

case, however, his “F” stood for fight back.

During his morning shift, Bryan called the Tower Records

headquarters and told his story. According to a spokesperson for vice

president Kevin Cassidy, the chain does not allow that type of song

to be played in its stores. Bryan was told that the store would hear

from the main office.

Bryan told me that he asked to have Cassidy come on the air to

discuss the matter, but as of Thursday morning, he has not. At this

point, it doesn’t matter whether Cassidy speaks to Bryan. If we are

to believe the Tower spokesperson, the matter was bought to their

attention and a mistake will be corrected.

Bryan, the father of three teenage girls, said that the callers to

his show were unanimous in his pursuit of Tower Records, and all of

the letters I’ve read about the impending retrial of the three boys

indicate overwhelming support for the move.

One person made a difference in a record store, and the public

seems to be disgusted with the behavior of the three boys.

I love it.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer.

Readers may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at

(949) 642-6086.