Live Crew Faces Obscenity Rap

Three members of the 2 Live Crew rap group and a store owner who sold their album were formally charged today with obscenity.

Band members Luther Campbell, Mark Ross and Chris Wongwon were charged with participating in an obscene performance, a first-degree misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine, according to the Broward state attorney’s office.

They were arrested after an adults-only concert in Hollywood on June 10.

E-C Records owner Charles Freeman of Ft. Lauderdale was formally charged with selling copies of the album, “As Nasty as They Wanna Be,” which a federal judge ruled was obscene.

But there may be problems for the prosecution, the Miami Herald reported today. The videotape of the performance is too garbled to understand, the band’s defense attorney told the newspaper.

“It’s terrible, and you can’t make out the words,” said Allen Jacobi, the group’s attorney.

Broward County sheriff’s deputies made the recording last month, two days after U.S. District Judge Jose Gonzalez ruled that their lyrics were obscene.

Assistant State Atty. Leslie Robson said the quality of the recording was not great but it was clear enough to support the court case.

The group’s fourth member, David Hobbs, has not been charged. He serves as 2 Live Crew’s “disc jockey”--the member of a rap group who plays records--and does not have a role in vocalizing the lyrics.