Savery v. State

767 S.W.2d 242, 1989 WL 37590
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 16, 1989
Docket09 88 104 CR
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 767 S.W.2d 242 (Savery v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Savery v. State, 767 S.W.2d 242, 1989 WL 37590 (Tex. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinions

OPINION

BROOKSHIRE, Justice.

The Appellant, Winsor Thomas Savery, takes the position that he is appealing from a denial of an application for a writ of habeas corpus. The denial of this writ was entered by the County Court at Law # 1 of Montgomery County on April 8, 1988. The applicant had been previously convicted in the County Court at Law # 1 of Montgomery County, in a jury trial, for the possession of child pornography.

The transcript from the County Clerk was not received in the designated period of time. However, the counsel for the Applicant or Appellant obtained an extension of time for filing the Statement of Facts. Appellant, or Applicant, concedes that the transcript had not been filed timely with the Appellate Clerk and that even the grace period for filing such had expired on September 15, 1987.

Later, there was a Petition for Discretionary Review filed with the Court of Criminal Appeals which was denied in December of 1987. Our Court of Appeals issued its mandate on January 13, 1988. Applicant concedes that his conviction had become final and he filed an Application for Writ of Habeas Corpus on February 23, 1988. The trial court denied his post-conviction Application for Writ of Habeas Corpus.

Savery’s first point of error is:

“The judgment below is void because it was obtained in violation of Stanley v. Georgia, 394 US 557, 22 L.Ed.2d 542, 89 S.Ct. 1243 (1969).”

Savery argues that this prosecution, simply and unequivocally, is specifically prohibited by Stanley v. Georgia, supra. He argues that the prosecution began with the County Attorney’s office and the Sheriff’s office asking the District Judge for a search warrant to obtain obscene material from the Appellant’s home. Savery maintains he can possess child pornography legally, if it is in his home. There were no allegations, he says, in the search warrant, that there was any type of distribution or commercial obscenity but that simply the defendant [Appellant] was in possession of this pornography of children in his home, which is protected, he says, by the First Amendment.

Savery filed two motions to suppress after he was actually charged with possession of child pornography. Both motions were overruled. Savery adamantly declares that all the material seized was taken from the defendant’s home and, further, [244]*244that there was not one item of any alleged child pornography that was not seized at Savery’s home.

The position taken by Savery under his Point of Error One, demonstrates that his sole defense is that the child pornography was located in the defendant’s home. Tacitly Savery acquiesces that, if the child pornography had been located in some place other than his own home, then the charge and conviction would be valid and the conviction would not be contra to Stanley, supra. Stanley, supra, is the authority relied upon by Savery to sustain his point of error one.

Upon oral submission of the case, the applicant took the position that the paramount issue was a First Amendment right. We conclude that the case sub judice is different and meaningfully distinguishable on the facts from the case of Stanley, supra. The child pornography statute is a separate and distinct legislative enactment and a separate and distinct concept which is treated differently under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

New York v. Ferber, 458 U.S. 747, 102 S.Ct. 3348, 73 L.Ed.2d 1113 (1982), dealt directly with the issue of child pornography and its interplay with the First Amendment protections. In Ferber, supra, the Supreme Court held that the First Amendment, basically, does not forbid a state from prohibiting child pornography. Even the possession of child pornography may be prohibited. In capsule form, the high court took the position that the legislative intent and purposes in enacting the statute, which protects and safe-guards the welfare of children of tender age, are tested by different criteria and such statutes on child pornography pass muster under the First Amendment. A statute prohibiting child pornography, therefore, generally, is constitutionally permissible. There is a compelling, overriding interest in the states to safeguard the well-being, safety and morals of a minor which does, indeed, justify prohibitive legislation, disallowing child pornography. In Ferber, supra, the court set out, in 458 U.S. 747, at page 757, 102 S.Ct. 3348, at page 3354, 73 L.Ed.2d 1113, at page 1122, as follows:

“[We] have sustained legislation aimed at protecting the physical and emotional well-being of youth even when the laws have operated in the sensitive area of constitutionally protected rights_” (Emphasis added)

The Legislature of our State enacted a child pornography statute that prohibits the possession of material which contains, substantially, a film image that visually depicts a child younger than 17 years of age at the time the film image of the child was made, who is engaging in sexual conduct. TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. sec. 43.-26 (Vernon Supp.1989).

In other words, there is an important distinction as to child pornography and general obscenity and the States’ governments have a greater area of legislative prerogative in prohibiting child pornography. Savery argues that this type of materia] should be treated as if it were general obscenity rather than child pornography. It is obviously logical and evident that the mere possession of this type of material or this type of film, or picture, necessarily has been created by a market which, in turn, has its foundation in the harmful sexual exploitation of children of tender age. If possession of this sort of film, which depicts a young child engaging in sexual conduct, is constitutionally protected, the same will create a demand for such child pornography which will bring about a tragic supply. In sum, children of tender age would be exploited sexually and otherwise to their extreme, long-lasting detriment. These children would be badly emotionally scarred, inter alia. To sustain Savery’s position (as to child pornography and involving child pornography) would simply eviscerate Ferber, supra. And, in harsh reality, to allow an individual to possess child pornography would simply defeat the State’s vital and proper interest in curtailing the exploitation of young children.

A parallel case is State v. Modeen, 28 Ohio St.3d 64, 502 N.E.2d 634, 635, (1986). Modeen, supra, addressed the issue of seiz[245]*245ing child pornography from an individual person’s home based on a statute which prohibited the possession of such child pornography. In Modeen, supra, the following issue or question was certified to the Supreme Court of Ohio. The issue was:

“‘Does the First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibit the state of Ohio from enacting a criminal statute which prohibits the private possession of child pornography?’ ”

Ohio prevailed; Ohio’s statute was upheld.

We conclude that the Ohio case of State v. Meadows, 28 Ohio St.3d 43, 28 Ohio St.3d 354, 503 N.E.2d 697

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Bluebook (online)
767 S.W.2d 242, 1989 WL 37590, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/savery-v-state-texapp-1989.