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| Photo taken by Bob Gruen (John thought he might use it as an album cover) |
Mistrial Over Nude Album Cover
Reuters
January 24, 1976
A US district judge declared a mistrial yesterday because a lawyer showed a jury photos of former Beatle John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, in the nude.
It happened in Manhattan federal court, where Lennon is being sued for breach of contract by Big Seven Music Corp for $42 million. The company alleges that Lennon broke an oral agreement made in October of 1974, permitting it to sell exclusively a record album containing 15 of his songs.
The company's lawyer, William Schurtman, picked up the album cover as he questioned a witness and turned it over several times in full view of the six-member jury. The album cover bears photographs of Lennon and his wife in the nude, shot from the front and rear.
Judge Lloyd McMahon, ordering a new trial, told the lawyer, "I can't imagine, Mr. Schurtman, you're using it for any other purpose than to prejudice the jury. It is plainly prejudicial on its face, and anybody with an ounce of common sense would know it."
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