On this day, Feb. 19, in 1991, San Francisco pornography mogul Jim Mitchell was found guilty of killing his brother and business partner, Artie.
The Mitchells were porn pioneers, gaining cult status after producing one of the world’s first famous feature-length pornographic movies, “Behind the Green Door.”
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Jim Mitchell drove to Artie Mitchell’s home, armed with two guns, on a rainy night in February 1991. Jim Mitchell said he wanted to get his brother to stop his cocaine and alcohol abuse.
In a precedent-setting decision, the courts allowed prosecutors to show a virtual reality re-enactment of the murder. This was the first use of a 3-D computer animation in a criminal trial.
Mitchell was found guilty. Numerous people spoke on Mitchell’s behalf at his sentencing, including former mayors, the sheriff and an ex-police chief.
Mitchell served half of a six-year prison sentence. He died in 2007.
– Scott McCabe
