AH v. State

949 So. 2d 234, 2007 WL 120008
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJanuary 19, 2007
Docket1D06-0162
StatusPublished

This text of 949 So. 2d 234 (AH v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
AH v. State, 949 So. 2d 234, 2007 WL 120008 (Fla. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

949 So.2d 234 (2007)

A.H., a child, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 1D06-0162.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

January 19, 2007.

*235 Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender, and David P. Gauldin, Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant.

Charlie Crist, Attorney General, and Giselle Lylen Rivera, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

WOLF, J.

A.H. challenges her adjudication of delinquency for producing, directing or promoting a photograph or representation that she knew included sexual conduct of a child in violation of section 827.071(3), Florida Statutes. She filed a motion to dismiss the charges alleging that the statute was as applied to her. She contended that, because the photographs were not actually distributed to a third party and the other participant in the sexual act was an older minor, her right to privacy was implicated and that criminal prosecution was not the least intrusive means of furthering a compelling state interest. The trial court ruled that there was a compelling state interest in preventing the production of these photographs and criminal prosecution was the least intrusive means of furthering the State's compelling interest. We agree with this analysis and further determine that the privacy provision of the state constitution does not protect the behavior of appellant. We, thus, affirm.

By Amended Petition of Delinquency, 16-year-old appellant, A.H., and her 17-year-old boyfriend, J.G.W., were charged as juveniles under the child pornography laws. The charges were based on digital photos A.H. and J.G.W. took on March 25, 2004, of themselves naked and engaged in sexual behavior. The State alleged that, while the photos were never shown to a third party, A.H. and J.G.W. emailed the photos to another computer from A.H.'s home. A.H. and J.G.W. were each charged with one count of producing, directing or promoting a photograph or representation that they knew to include the sexual conduct of a child, in violation of section 827.071(3), Florida Statutes.[1]

A.H. filed a motion to dismiss on October 24, 2005, arguing that section 827.071(3), Florida Statutes, was unconstitutional as applied to her. She contended that her privacy interests were implicated in the charges, that she was actually younger than her alleged victim, J.G.W., and that criminal prosecution was not the least intrusive means of furthering a compelling state interest. A hearing was held on the motion to dismiss on November 30, 2005, after which the trial court issued an order denying the motion. The order included the following conclusions:

*236 Assuming that the child's right to privacy is implicated, the standard for evaluating whether the State may regulate the sexual conduct of minors, articulated in B.B. v. State, 659 So.2d 256, 258-59 (Fla.1995), requires the State to show both that it has a compelling interest and that it is furthering this interest in the least intrusive manner.
As to the first prong of the test, whether the State has a compelling interest in regulating the sexual behavior of minors, this Court recognizes a compelling state interest in protecting children from sexual exploitation, particularly the form of sexual exploitation involved in this case. This compelling interest exists whether the person sexually exploiting the child is an adult or a minor and is certainly triggered by the production of 117 photographs of minors engaging in graphic sexual acts. State v. A.R.S., 684 So.2d 1383, 1387 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996).
The Court further finds that prosecuting the child under the statute in question is the least intrusive means of furthering the State's compelling interest. Not prosecuting the child would do nothing to further the State's interest. Prosecution enables the State to prevent future illegal, exploitative acts by supervising and providing any necessary counseling to the child. The Court finds that the State has shown that Section 827.071(3), Florida Statutes, as applied to the child, is the least intrusive means of furthering the State's compelling interest in preventing the sexual exploitation of children, rendering the statute constitutional.

Three weeks later, A.H. entered a nolo contendere plea to the charge and was placed on probation. Based on the supplemental record that has been filed, we find appellant specifically reserved her right to appeal the issue raised on the motion to dismiss.

A.H. argues that the trial court erred in denying her motion to dismiss below because the statute is unconstitutional as applied to her. She relies, in part, on the 1995 Florida Supreme Court decision in B.B. v. State, 659 So.2d 256 (Fla.1995), in which she alleges the court held that a child's privacy interests under article I, section 23 of the Florida Constitution are triggered by engaging in sexual conduct.

According to A.H., given the lack of a significant age difference or of any allegation that the pictures were shown to a third party, the only compelling state interest that could be involved here was the protection of the co-defendants from engaging in sexual behavior until their minds and bodies had matured. A.H. argues that prosecuting her for the second-degree felony of promoting a sexual performance by a child was not the least intrusive means of furthering this interest. Therefore, she maintains that section 827.071(3), Florida Statutes, is unconstitutional as applied to her, and the trial court's ruling to the contrary must be reversed.

Implicit in A.H.'s argument is that article I, section 23 protects a minor's right to have sexual intercourse and that this right of privacy extends to situations where the minor memorializes the act through pictures or video. We cannot accept this argument.

In State v. A.R.S., 684 So.2d 1383 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996), we addressed the constitutionality of section 827.071(3), Florida Statutes, the same statute at issue in this case. In that case, the court assumed "that a minor's privacy interests were implicated." Id. The court went on to hold that the State had a compelling interest "to protect minors from exploitation by anyone who induces them to appear in a sexual performance *237 and shows that performance to other people." Id. at 1387.

As Judge Allen noted in his concurrence in A.R.S., the law relating to a minor's right of privacy to have sex with another minor is anything but clear. See also State v. Raleigh, 686 So.2d 621 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996). It is unnecessary, however, for us to enter that quagmire. The question before us is, even assuming that the privacy provision of article I, section 23 of the Florida Constitution extends to minors having sexual intercourse, whether that right extends to them memorializing that activity through photographs.

"Florida's right to privacy is a fundamental right that requires evaluation under a compelling state interest standard. However, before the right to privacy attaches and the standard is applied, a reasonable expectation of privacy must exist." Bd. of County Comm'rs of Palm Beach County v. D.B., 784 So.2d 585, 588 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001). Whether an individual has a legitimate expectation of privacy is determined by considering all the circumstances, especially objective manifestations of that expectation. City of N. Miami v. Kurtz, 653 So.2d 1025, 1028 (Fla.1995).

A number of factors lead us to conclude that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy under these circumstances.

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Related

State v. Conforti
688 So. 2d 350 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1997)
Schmitt v. State
590 So. 2d 404 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1991)
City of North Miami v. Kurtz
653 So. 2d 1025 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1995)
State v. Raleigh
686 So. 2d 621 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1996)
Bd. of Co. Com'rs of Palm Beach v. Db
784 So. 2d 585 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2001)
Four Navy Seals v. Associated Press
413 F. Supp. 2d 1136 (S.D. California, 2005)
B.B. v. State
659 So. 2d 256 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1995)
State v. A.R.S.
684 So. 2d 1383 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1996)
A.H. v. State
949 So. 2d 234 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2007)

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949 So. 2d 234, 2007 WL 120008, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ah-v-state-fladistctapp-2007.