Nude gardener's harassment conviction voided by court

Associated Press

Published Aug 9, 2002 NUDE10

PITTSBURGH -- Chalk up another victory for the naked gardener.

The Pennsylvania Superior Court has overturned the harassment conviction of Charlie Stitzer, who has a habit of tending his backyard garden in the nude.

Stitzer, 64, of Pleasant Gap, was convicted in December 2000 of indecent exposure after a neighbor, Pam Watkins, complained that she and her 15-year-old daughter had seen Stitzer gardening in nothing but shoes and a wristwatch. Stitzer was sentenced to two years probation.

The Superior Court threw out that conviction in March, saying Stitzer's backyard was private and that the neighbors were too far away - 65 yards - to have seen anything offensive.

The separate harassment charge stems from three letters Stitzer wrote to Watkins. The Superior Court, in its ruling Monday, said Stitzer used the letters ``to establish a dialogue with his longtime neighbor in an attempt to mediate their ongoing conflict. ... He used these letters as a forum to make peace.''

Stitzer said he first started gardening in the nude to persuade Watkins to dim the outdoor floodlights that shone toward his property, a few miles northeast of State College, Pa.

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