In a 5-0 ruling, the high court justices rejected arguments by John Haltom that the Utah Court of Appeals used the wrong legal standard in affirming his conviction of dealing in material harmful to a minor. Haltom had claimed that the evidence against him fell short of showing he was reckless when he failed to ascertain the age of the 17-year-old girl who bought the video.

Writing for the court, Justice Ronald Nehring noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has found that a defendant can be held accountable for distributing adult literature to a minor through "mere negligence."

"In short, the United States Supreme Court has imposed no constitutional impediment to making merely negligent conduct criminal, and neither do we," Nehring wrote.

According to court records, a 17-year-old girl was sent by police into Dr. John's in August 2000. An employee looked at her driver's license - which contained her correct date of birth - when she first entered the store and let her in, despite the fact she was under 18.

When she paid for the video, Haltom also looked at her driver's license. He was convicted of selling her the video and served a month in jail for the third-degree felony.

Dr. John's in Midvale now sells only swimsuits, lingerie and lotions. Dr. John's also has outlets in Roy and Salt Lake City.

pmanson@sltrib.com