In Reversal, Judge Orders Naughton to Be Released

A federal judge reversed himself Wednesday and ordered Internet executive Patrick J. Naughton released from jail while his lawyers try to have his child pornography conviction overturned.

Naughton, the former executive vice president of Walt Disney Co.’s Go.com Web site, was expected to be released from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles late Wednesday.

Naughton told reporters in the courtroom he felt “glad to be out.” Asked what he would do upon his release, he replied, “No idea. Go outside.”

He was convicted last week of possessing child pornography, for which he faces up to 10 years in prison. A jury deadlocked on two other charges related to his alleged use of the Internet to solicit a minor, and prosecutors have not yet decided whether to retry him on those counts.

The day after his conviction, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a decision striking down a provision of the federal law against child pornography, ruling that the government cannot outlaw “virtual” sexual images that only appear to be pictures of real minors.

Prosecutors introduced evidence that at least two of the pornographic images found in Naughton’s laptop computer had been identified as actual minors living in Britain. Naughton’s lawyers never argued that the pictures shown at the trial were of anything other than real children.

Contradicting an order he issued two days earlier, U.S. District Judge Edward Rafeedie said that the appellate court decision meant Naughton was “substantially likely” to be granted a new trial, and ordered him released on $100,000 bail pending his sentencing, set for March 6.