Record year for film and television
Television and film productions spent more money in Shelby County last year than any other year on record.
The Memphis & Shelby County Film and Television Commission said the production of Young Rock pushed the record-breaking figure. Production offices for the show open in July 2022 and closed in February 2023. The series put to work nearly 1,500 local cast and crew members.
The commission said the show filled “Downtown hotels and launched Graceland’s exhibit halls as Memphis’ largest soundstage space.”
“[Last year] is bigger even than any year in the 1990s when we had big budget studio films such as Paramount’s The Firm and Columbia Pictures’ The People vs. Larry Flynt,” the commission said in a statement.
Ching’s Wings former owner indicted
Veniece Bobo, 65, former owner of Ching’s Wings, was arrested Wednesday on two counts of tax theft. She was booked into the Shelby County Jail.
State officials indicted Bobo last month on charges of tax theft over $60,000. She faces 12 years in the state penitentiary and fines of up to $25,000 for each charge.
“Investigations, such as this one, should warn retailers that failing to properly remit all the sales tax monies they collect is a crime,“ said Tennessee Department of Revenue Commissioner David Gerregano. “The taxes collected from customers are property of state and local governments. Customers have a right to know that the tax they pay will be remitted to the state and used for public good.”
Appeal lost for man convicted of touching young relative
A man convicted of inappropriately touching an 11-year-old relative lost an appeal of his case, in which he argued that no evidence produced at trial proved the “the contact was for sexual arousal or gratification.”
In 2020, the young victim woke to find Rico Reed, then 39, “just rubbing [her] private part. … on top of [her] clothes.” She “pushed his hand back” and told him “no.” The victim ran from Reed and immediately texted her mother for help.
Reed, already convicted of sex crimes in Ohio, was convicted in Tennessee last year. His counsel sought to overturn the ruling, arguing no one could prove the touching was for sexual gratification. A state appeals court affirmed the ruling of the Shelby County court this week.
“In sum, [Reed] a 39-year-old man, touched the 11-year-old victim’s vagina while she was asleep and unable to resist,” reads the ruling. “When the victim awoke, she did resist and told him ‘no.’
“The jury, when presented with this evidence, was able to ‘draw upon its common knowledge’ to ‘reasonably construe’ that [Reed’s] actions were for sexual arousal or gratification. We find no reason in the record to say otherwise.”
