"Girls Gone Wild" Trial Delayed

RENO, Nev. (AP) - A federal judge has postponed the tax evasion
trial of "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis but did not
immediately rule on whether the racy filmmaker could be released
from jail.
U.S. District Judge Brian Sandoval granted a defense request to
postpone the tax trial until August.
He also said he would rule in the "very near future" on a
revised bail proposal that defense lawyer Fred Atcheson said would
end Francis' legal limbo that has kept him in jail for nearly a
year.
Francis is seeking release with the assurance that he will not
be extradited to Florida, where he faces separate charges related
to the filming of underage girls in 2003.
Francis has made millions selling and marketing videos of rowdy,
bare-breasted woman.
In court documents and at a hearing today (Friday) the defense
said Francis can meet all but one bail condition set earlier by
another judge - resolving a no-bail warrant out of Panama City,
Florida.
Atcheson said the revised proposal - which would confine Francis
to Nevada - would allow him to help prepare for his tax trial and
"protect him from Florida."


(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)