Shock jock's video shows killing of wild boar

Bubba the Love Sponge Clem's company taped the slaughter described during his radio show.

By DAVID KARP

© St. Petersburg Times,
published June 12, 2001

TAMPA -- The production company for radio shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge Clem videotaped the killing of a wild boar to create a pay-per-view video for his Web site, a lawyer said in court Monday.

Attorney J. Kevin Hayslett said the tape that Love Sponge Productions shot Feb. 27 shows the slaughter and castration of a boar in the station's parking lot, people eating parts of the boar and people drinking a "shake" made up of dead rats, Hayslett said. It also shows nude women.

"The tape is not something you would expect to see on the 4 o'clock news," Hayslett said after the hearing.

Authorities obtained the video and now plan to use it as a key piece of evidence against Clem in his trial on felony animal cruelty charges.

Also charged were Brent Hatley, a producer at WXTB-97.9 FM, Paul Lauterberg, a listener who brought the boar to the station and slaughtered it, and Daniel Brooks, another listener who helped hold the boar.

The St. Petersburg Times and local news stations asked to see the video and other evidence that will be used at trial. The material is a public record under the Florida Constitution's public records provision and the state's open government laws.

But defense attorneys asked Circuit Judge Herbert Baumann to keep the records closed to protect the defendants' rights to a fair trial. If the public saw the video, it would be nearly impossible to find a fair and unbiased jury to hear the case, lawyers argued.

"For the average John Q. Public who comes in as a juror, (the video) is going to make them very, very upset," Hayslett said. "It has a shock value."

Penelope Bryan, an attorney for the Times, told the judge that he could not seal the records unless the defendants showed that releasing them would threaten the administration of justice. In a city the size of Tampa, many potential jurors would never see the video. And if they did, lawyers could screen out those who were offended.

Pictures of the killing have been posted on the Internet and broadcast on the radio station's airwaves, Bryan noted.

Baumann said he would view the video before ruling. He ordered the other evidence in the case released, but Hillsborough State Attorney Mark Ober's office would not release the material until lawyers decide whether to appeal.

- Staff writer Pam Davis contributed to this report.

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