Hartley v. State

129 So. 3d 486, 2014 WL 51703, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 146
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJanuary 8, 2014
DocketNo. 4D12-2486
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 129 So. 3d 486 (Hartley 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
Hartley v. State, 129 So. 3d 486, 2014 WL 51703, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 146 (Fla. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

On Motion for Rehearing

KLINGENSMITH, J.

Upon consideration of appellant’s motion for rehearing, we grant rehearing, withdraw our previously issued opinion, and substitute the following in its place.

Appellant, Daniel Hartley, appeals from his convictions for three counts of using a computer to solicit a minor and one count of traveling to meet a minor for an unlawful sexual act under section 847.0135, Florida Statutes (2011). Each episode of solicitation as charged in the Amended Information took place on a separate day, specifically November 2, 2011 (Count I), November 3, 2011 (Count II), and November 4, 2011 (Count III). Count IV of the Amended Information charged appellant with traveling to meet a minor to commit an unlawful sex act on November 4, 2011.

The only witness called at trial was a detective in the computer crimes division of the Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office. On November 2, 2011, the detective was on Craigslist, an online message board, in its personal section where people go to meet each other. While on the board, she intended to represent herself as a fourteen-year-old child while responding to an ad which was titled “35 looking for younger Northwood.” The detective responded to the ad as follows: “My name is Tyler. I’m 14, five foot six, 140 and smooth with barely any hair. Let me know if you are interested.” She wrote the last sentence in her response to make sure the person who posted the ad wanted to continue with someone who was fourteen years of age. That same day, she received a response from a person later confirmed to be appellant. Appellant and “Tyler” exchanged communications on November 2, November 3, and November 4 discussing meeting each other. Only the text exchanges on November 3 involved explicit discussions of mutual sexual acts; the communications by appellant on November 2 and November 4 were not so explicit. On November 4, appellant made plans to meet “Tyler” at a nearby donut shop. When appellant ar[489]*489rived at the arranged place and time, he was taken into custody.

Appellant gave a taped statement to the detective which was played for the jury. In that statement, he described “Tyler” as “[t]he student I was gonna help tutor.” He admitted the conversation was “[s]ome-thing about sex” and about kissing, and that “Tyler” said he wanted to “try stuff’ with appellant. Appellant also admitted during the statement that it was a “bad mistake” not to put a “legal” age in his Craigslist advertisement.

After the State rested, appellant moved for judgment of acquittal on counts I and III, arguing that because there was no discussion of sex on either November 2 or November 4, the State’s evidence was insufficient to prove solicitation on those dates. He also moved for judgment of acquittal as to count IV, arguing that there was no evidence to suggest that he planned to engage in an illegal act because they were meeting in a public place. The trial court denied the motions, finding that these were issues for the jury.

The defense rested without presenting any evidence. Appellant was found guilty on all counts. The trial court sentenced appellant to eighty-four months (seven years) on counts I, II, and III to run concurrently, followed by ten years sex offender probation on count IV.

On appeal, appellant argues that the court erred in failing to grant a judgment of acquittal on count I and count III, because the State’s evidence was insufficient to show there were communications on either November 2 or November 4 expressly indicating that appellant was seeking a sexual relationship with someone he believed was a minor. He claimed that the texts he sent were equally consistent with a non-sexual relationship.

A trial court’s denial of a motion for judgment of acquittal is reviewed de novo for the sole purpose of determining whether the evidence is legally sufficient. Durousseau v. State, 55 So.3d 543, 556 (Fla.2010). “Whether to grant a motion for judgment of acquittal hinges on the sufficiency of the evidence presented at trial and what factual findings the jury could ‘fairly and reasonably infer’ from that evidence.” Grohs v. State, 944 So.2d 450, 456 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006).

Section 847.0135(3)(a), Florida Statutes (2011), provides:

(3) CERTAIN USES OF COMPUTER SERVICES OR DEVICES PROHIBITED. — Any person who knowingly uses a computer online service, Internet service, local bulletin board service, or any other device capable of electronic data storage or transmission to:
(a) Seduce, solicit, lure, or entice, or attempt to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice, a child or another person believed by the person to be a child, to commit any illegal act described in chapter 794, chapter 800, or chapter 827, or to otherwise engage in any unlawful sexual conduct with a child or with another person believed by the person to be a child; ...
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commits a felony of the third degree .... Each separate use of a computer online service, Internet service, local bulletin board service, or any other device capable of electronic data storage or transmission wherein an offense described in this section is committed may be charged as a separate offense.

§ 847.0135(3)(a), Fla. Stat. (2011).

Considering the content of the November 2 and November 4 text exchanges, in context with their closeness in time to the November 3 exchanges and other communications which expressly indicated that appellant’s intent was to begin a sexual [490]*490relationship with a fourteen-year-old boy, a jury could “fairly and reasonably infer” that various statements made by appellant in his online communications with “Tyler” met the plain and ordinary definitions of seduce, solicit, lure, and entice, even if he did so only obliquely and implicitly by avoiding explicit references to sexual conduct. As this court said in Grohs:

The tenor of [defendant’s] suggestive comments could be interpreted to demonstrate both the adroit artfulness, or enticement, and the enjoyment of active attraction, or allurement, of a predator laying a trap for his prey. The trap may have been set by phrases such as “we can be more, and do whatever makes you happy” and “I’d be happy to do anything with and/or for you right now.” When taken in the context of being directed at a believed fifteen-year-old boy first contacted in a “Young Men” chat room, these phrases could reasonably be construed as aimed at physical seduction to sexual intercourse and the propositioning of sexual conduct. Consequently, we conclude that the trial court did not err by denying [defendant’s] motion for judgment of acquittal and allowing the jury to exercise its fact-finding role to “fairly and reasonably infer” conclusions from sufficient evidence regarding conduct that presented “room for a difference of opinion between reasonable men.”

944 So.2d at 457. Therefore, we affirm the trial court’s denial of the motions for judgment of acquittal.

Appellant also argues that his convictions on counts I, II and III under section 847.0135(3)(a), Florida Statutes (2011), should be dismissed as they are in violation of double jeopardy. He argues that all of the elements under which these counts are charged are subsumed in count IV, which was charged under section 847.0135(4)(a), Florida Statutes (2011).

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Bluebook (online)
129 So. 3d 486, 2014 WL 51703, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 146, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hartley-v-state-fladistctapp-2014.