Coleman v. State

416 P.3d 238
CourtNevada Supreme Court
DecidedMay 3, 2018
DocketNo. 71052
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 416 P.3d 238 (Coleman v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nevada Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Coleman v. State, 416 P.3d 238 (Neb. 2018).

Opinion

By the Court, PICKERING, J.:

NRS 200.604 prohibits a person from knowingly and intentionally capturing an image of another person's private area without her consent, under circumstances in which she has a reasonable expectation of privacy. The question presented is whether the statute prohibits a person from copying, without permission, a consensually recorded video depicting sexual acts. We hold that such copying does not violate NRS 200.604 and therefore reverse.

I.

Coleman was arrested and charged with several crimes involving two alleged victims. After a five-day trial, the jury acquitted Coleman of all charges except one: capturing an image of the private area of another person in violation of NRS 200.604. The facts related to that charge involve one victim, L.M.

Coleman, a Las Vegas police officer, responded to a scene where another officer had detained L.M. and a friend of hers. L.M. admitted she had outstanding warrants, and after finding drugs in L.M.'s friend's purse, the officers arrested both women. At some point during the arrest, L.M. gave Coleman permission to go through her cell phone, where he found sexual videos of her and her boyfriend. Coleman copied these videos onto his cell phone by recording the video while it was playing on L.M.'s cell phone. Sometime later, police had occasion to search Coleman's cell phone and they found the videos of L.M. and her boyfriend. Coleman was charged and convicted of violating NRS 200.604 and now appeals.

II.

Coleman argues that the State did not put forth sufficient evidence to convict him under *240NRS 200.604 because the statute prohibits voyeurism and Coleman did not take a video of L.M.'s physical body directly but merely copied an existing video. The State responds that the statute prohibits Coleman's conduct because he captured an image of L.M.'s private area from a video on her cell phone, in which she had a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Determining whether the State provided sufficient evidence to convict Coleman under NRS 200.604 requires us to interpret the statute to understand what conduct it prohibits. Issues of statutory interpretation are questions of law reviewed de novo. State v. Catanio, 120 Nev. 1030, 1033, 102 P.3d 588, 590 (2004). If a statute is unambiguous, this court does not look beyond its plain language in interpreting it. State v. Lucero , 127 Nev. 92, 95, 249 P.3d 1226, 1228 (2011). When a statute is ambiguous, meaning it is susceptible to two or more reasonable interpretations, the court may look to extrinsic aids such as legislative history, extra-jurisdictional authority, and principles of interpretation, including the rule of lenity, to disambiguate its text. Id.

A.

NRS 200.604(1) provides that "a person shall not knowingly and intentionally capture an image of the private area of another person: (a) [w]ithout the consent of the other person; and (b) [u]nder circumstances in which the other person has a reasonable expectation of privacy." " 'Capture,' with respect to an image means, to videotape, photograph, film, record by any means for broadcast." NRS 200.604(8)(b). Under NRS 200.604(2), it is also illegal to "distribute, disclose, display, transmit or publish an image that the person knows or has reasons to know was made in violation of subsection 1."

NRS 200.604 is ambiguous because "capture an image" is susceptible to two reasonable interpretations. NRS 200.604(1) could be limited to videotaping, photographing, filming, or recording a physical person in real time, or it could also include the copying of a pre-existing image that displays a private area. The plain meaning of the word "image" offers no clarification, as it includes both proposed definitions. Merriam-Webster's definition of "image" includes "a reproduction or imitation of the form of a person or thing," "a visual representation of something," or "a vivid or graphic representation or description." See Image, Merriam-Webster https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/image (last visited March 29, 2018). Thus, we must look to NRS 200.604 's legislative history and other relevant extrinsic aids for guidance.

B.

NRS 200.604 's legislative history reveals that the Legislature created NRS 200.604(1) to criminalize the act of taking photos or video of a person's private area in real time, either in a public or private physical location, when that person had a reasonable expectation of privacy. The Legislature recognized that using small cameras or video recording devices to take pictures of people under their clothing or places of privacy such as dressing rooms or bathrooms had become increasingly common, yet Nevada law did not criminalize such activity. See Hearing on S.B. 10 Before the Senate Judiciary Comm., 74th Leg. (Nev., February 8, 2007) (statement of Senator Barbara K. Cegavske) ("I received a call from parents whose daughter was at a casino when she discovered a man with a camera on his shoe filming underneath the skirts of women and showing the pictures on the Internet.... There was another case of showgirls unknowingly filmed in their dressing rooms changing clothes.... In the case of the young daughter, the parents had the man arrested. Unfortunately he was released because such an activity is not a criminal act."); id.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
416 P.3d 238, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coleman-v-state-nev-2018.