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The Iowa Court of Appeals on Wednesday dismissed the state's request for a
review of the issue. The request followed a judge's 2008 decision that
Clarence Judy, then-owner of Shotgun Geniez, didn't violate the state's
public indecent exposure law.
Judy was charged after a 17-year-old girl stripped onstage in the
southwestern Iowa club in 2007.
Iowa law makes it a criminal offense to allow minors to perform a live act
intended to arouse patrons. But Fremont County Judge Timothy O'Grady ruled
that the strip club was protected because the law doesn't apply to theaters,
art centers, or other venues devoted to the arts or theatrical performances.
O'Grady said prosecutors failed to prove the club wasn't a theater.
The appeals court denied the review request because Judy can't be retried
because of double jeopardy rules.
The attorney general's office will ask the Iowa Supreme Court for a
"definitive legal interpretation" of the law. Legislators also are
considering clarifying the law to prevent such situations in the future.
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