Jeffrey Dean Gerron v. State

524 S.W.3d 308, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 11581, 2016 WL 6302073
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided October 26, 2016·No. 10-14-00121-CR·Published·Cited by 28 cases

Opinion

OPINION

REX D. DAVIS Justice

Jeffrey Dean Gerron was convicted on nine of ten' counts of possession of child pornography, and he was sentenced to consecutive terms of nine years in prison on each count. Act of May 27,1985, 69th Leg., R.S., ch. 530, § 2, 1985 Tex. Gen. Laws 2133, 2134, amended by Act of May 29, 1999, 76th Leg., R.S., ch. 1415, § 22(c), 1999 Tex. Gen. Laws 4831, 4841 (current version at Tex. Penal Code Ann.,§ 43.26 (West Supp. 2016)).

In ten issues, Gerron complains that (1) the evidence was insufficient for the jury to have found beyond a reasonable doubt that the images in six of the photographs were that of females under the age of 18; (2) subsection 43.25(a)(2) of the Penal Code is facially unconstitutional; (3) the 'trial court abused its discretion by admitting hearsay testimony of a law-enforcement officer from Norway; (4) the admission of the Norwegian law-enforcement officer’s testimony , violated the Confrontation Clause; (5) the trial court abused its discretion in admitting 491 photographs as extraneous-offense evidence; (6). the • trial court abused its discretion in allowing testimony regarding approximately 11,000 images that were found on Gerron’s computer; (7) the trial court abused its discretion by admitting a 64-page list of files that had been downloaded onto Gerron’s computer; (8) the trial court abused its discretion by excluding several books that Gerron had offered, into evidence; (9) the trial court erred by ordering that Gerron’s sentences be-served consecutively; and (10) the trial court abused its discretion by admitting an anime drawing during the punishment phase.

We will affirm.

CONSTITUTIONALITY OF PENAL CODE SUBSECTION 43.25(a)(2)

We begin with Gerron’s second issue, which asserts that the trial court erred by denying Gerron’s motion to quash the indictment, which asserted that the term “lewd exhibition” of a child’s genitals in subsection 43.25(a)(2) of the Penal Code is vague, rendering the statute facially unconstitutional. Section 43.26(b)(2) provides that “sexual conduct” “has the meaning assigned by Section 43.25.” Tex. Penal Code Ann. . § 43.26(b)(2). Subsection 43.25(a)(2) of the Penal Code provides:

“Sexual conduct” means sexual contact, actual or simulated sexual intercourse, deviate sexual intercourse, sexual bestiality, masturbation, sado-masochistic abuse, or lewd exhibition of the genitals, the anus, or any portion of the female breast below the top of the areola.

Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 43.25(a)(2) (West 2011) (emphasis added). Gerron contends that the portion of the statute’s subsection regarding “lewd exhibition” is facially un *316 constitutional because, by not defining “lewd exhibition,” it fails to provide adequate notice of what conduct is prohibited. Gerron also argues that the statute is void for vagueness because it fails to define the criminal offense with sufficient definiteness that ordinary people can understand what conduct is prohibited and in a manner that does not permit arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.

To prevail on a facial challenge to a statute, a party must establish that the statute always operates unconstitutionally in all possible circumstances. State v. Rosseau, 396 S.W.3d 550, 557 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013). A facial challenge to a statute is the most difficult challenge to mount successfully because the challenger must establish that no set of circumstances exists under which the statute will be valid. Santikos v. State, 836 S.W.2d 631, 633 (Tex. Crim. App. 1992). Whether a statute is facially unconstitutional is a question of law that we review de novo. Ex parte Lo, 424 S.W.3d 10, 14 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013). When the constitutionality of a statute is attacked, we begin with the presumption that the statute is valid and that the legislature has not acted unreasonably or arbitrarily. Id. at 14-15. The burden normally rests upon the person challenging the statute to establish its unconstitutionality. Id. at 15. In the absence of contrary evidence, we will presume the legislature acted in a constitutionally sound fashion. Rodriguez v. State, 93 S.W.3d 60, 69 (Tex. Crim. App. 2002).

“A statute is void for vagueness if it fails to define the criminal offense with sufficient definiteness that ordinary people can understand what conduct is prohibited and in a manner that does not permit arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.” Lawrence v. State, 240 S.W.3d 912, 915 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007). Because a party must show that the law is impermis-sibly vague in all of its applications, “a plaintiff who engages in some conduct that is clearly proscribed cannot complain of the vagueness of the law as applied to the conduct of others. A court should therefore examine the complainant’s conduct before analyzing other hypothetical applications of the law.” Village of Hoffman Estates v. Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc., 455 U.S. 489, 495, 102 S.Ct. 1186, 1191, 71 L.Ed.2d 362 (1982).

Gerron does not argue that the statute is vague as to his conduct by challenging the sufficiency of the evidence as it relates to the lewdness of the images that he was convicted of possessing. Therefore, Gerron has not met his burden of establishing that the term “lewd exhibition” is unconstitutional in all of its applications.

Additionally, a statute is not unconstitutionally vague merely because it fails to define words or phrases. Engelking v. State, 750 S.W.2d 213, 215 (Tex. Crim. App. 1988). Instead, undefined terms in a statute are to be given their plain and ordinary meaning. Watson v. State, 369 S.W.3d 865, 870 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012). Words defined in dictionaries and with meanings so well known as to be understood by a person of ordinary intelligence are not considered vague and indefinite. Id.; see Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 311.011(a) (West 2013) (providing that statutory “[w]ords and phrases shall be read in context and construed according to the rules of grammar and common usage”). The term “lewd exhibition,” as used in the statute, is defined in dictionaries and is so well known as to be understood by a person of ordinary intelligence. See Watson, 369 S.W.3d at 870; see also Goodson v. State, No. 02-01-458-CR, 2003 WL 1894578, at *3 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Apr. 17, 2003, pet. ref'd) (mem. op., not designated for publication) (“lewd exhibition” not unconstitutionally vague); Garay v. State, 954 *317 S.W.2d 59, 63 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 1997, pet. ref'd) (same). Accordingly, the statute is not void for vagueness. We overrule issue two.

SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE

In.

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Jeffrey Dean Gerron v. State, 524 S.W.3d 308, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 11581, 2016 WL 6302073 (Tex. Ct. App. 2016).

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