State v. CARAMACO

203 S.W.3d 596
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 3, 2006
Docket14-05-00900-CR
StatusPublished

This text of 203 S.W.3d 596 (State v. CARAMACO) 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
State v. CARAMACO, 203 S.W.3d 596 (Tex. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

203 S.W.3d 596 (2006)

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellant,
v.
ANTIONIETA CARMACO, Appellee.

No. 14-05-00900-CR.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Fourteenth District, Houston.

Opinion filed October 3, 2006.

Panel consists of Justices HUDSON, AMIDEI and MIRABAL.[1]

OPINION

MAURICE AMIDEI, Senior Justice.

Appellee pled not guilty to the offense of violating Section XXII (a) (12) of the Harris County Regulations for Sexually Oriented Businesses In the Unincorporated Area of Harris County, Texas. Following a hearing, the trial judge granted appellee's Motion to Quash the Information and found the Regulation unconstitutionally vague.

I. BACKGROUND

This appeal seeks to reverse the trial court's order quashing the Information and to reinstate the Information. No evidence was offered during the hearing on appellee's Motion to Quash, but the probable cause statement in the Information states:

appellee, while clothed in only a G-string panty and dancing in a SOB, rubbed her buttocks on an undercover officer's groin, placed her clothed vagina in his face and rubbed her bare breasts in his face. During this performance, appellee was not on a stage 18 inches above the floor.

In one point of error, appellant contends that the trial judge erred by finding the ordinance unconstitutional and granting appellee's Motion to Quash the Information. We agree.

II. REGULATION IN QUESTION

The Regulation made the basis of the Information provides the following:

ASection XXII (a) The following shall be violations of these regulations as authorized in Section 243.010(b) of the Local Government Code. Each day a violation continues constitutes, and is punishable as, a separate offense:
* * *
(12) for any person performing at an enterprise to do so less than six (6) feet from the nearest patron and on a stage less than eighteen (18) inches above floor level;
* * *

Pertinent Regulation definitions are as follows:

Section IV-DEFINITIONS
As used in these regulations:
* * *
(c) Adult Cabaret: a nightclub, bar, restaurant, or similar commercial establishment that features:
(1) persons who appear semi-nude or in a state of nudity as defined in this section;
(2) live performances which are characterized by the exposure of specified anatomical areas or specified sexual activities as defined in this section; or
* * *
(q) Enterprise: a sexually oriented business enterprise is a commercial enterprise the primary business of which is the offering of a service or the selling, renting or exhibiting of devices or any other items intended to provide sexual stimulation or sexual gratification to the customer. This definition includes but is not limited to: sex parlors; nude studios; modeling studios; love parlors; adult bookstores; adult movie theaters; adult video arcades; adult movie arcades; adult video stores; adult motels; adult cabarets; escort agencies; and sexual encounter centers.
* * *
(w) Live Exhibition: a live performance by one or more individuals conducted in front of at least one patron, including but not limited to, dancing, modeling, sword swallowing, juggling, acrobatic acts, wrestling and pantomime.
* * *
(y) Patron: any customer or client of an enterprise, including members of the public or club members invited or admitted to a Class I enterprise. This definition shall not include the employees or permitted Class II performers at a Class I enterprise. Id.

III. INFORMATION

The Information in pertinent part states the following:

". . . the Defendant, . . ., did then and there unlawfully while performing, to-wit: DANCING, at a sexually oriented business enterprise in an unincorporated area of Harris County, Texas, namely, ADULT CABARET, intentionally and knowingly perform at a distance of less than six feet from the nearest patron, namely, K. WILLIS, and on a stage less than eighteen inches above the floor level of the enterprise."

The Information was amended to allege "St. James Adult Cabaret" instead of "Adult Cabaret".

IV. PURPOSE OF REGULATION

The Harris County Commissioners Order Adopting the Regulation in question states in its finding number 22, "Sexually oriented businesses have been shown to be used for sexual activities which create a significant threat to the public heath because of the sexual transmission of disease. These sexual activities include prostitution and sexual liaisons of a casual nature." Id.

Further, in Section I entitled "Authority" of the Regulations in subsection (b) the stated purpose of the Regulations is to exercise the police power of Harris County, to protect the health, safety and general welfare of the citizens of Harris County, and to prohibit business activities which merely serve as a front for activities prohibited by the Texas Penal Code, including but not limited to prostitution and the promotion of prostitution; and in subsection (c) a disclaimer of intent states the Regulations have neither the intent nor the effect of imposing limits or restrictions on the content of any communicative material, including sexually oriented material; nor is it the intent or effect of "this regulation" to restrict or deny adults access to sexually oriented material protected by the First Amendment. Id.

V. MOTION TO QUASH

Appellee made a motion to quash the Information alleging generally it is defective in that it seeks to enforce an ordinance that is unconstitutional, both on its face, and as applied to the appellee. The appellee alleged four specific grounds, including the claim the regulation was unduly vague and overly broad.

The trial court granted appellee's motion to quash after a hearing and held Section XXII (a) (12) of the Regulations unconstitutional for vagueness because it did not give fair notice to a person of ordinary intelligence of the conduct forbidden, and it did not provide explicit standards to law enforcement personnel to prevent arbitrary or discriminatory enforcement. Except for the vagueness ground alleged by appellee in her Motion to Quash the other specific grounds were not discussed or ruled on by the trial court.

VI. STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review a trial court's ruling on a motion to quash de novo. State v. Moff, 154 S.W.3d 599, 601 (Tex. Crim. App. 2004). In reviewing the constitutionality of a statute, we begin with the presumption that the statute is valid and assume that the legislature did not act arbitrarily and unreasonably in enacting the statute. Rodriguez v. State, 93 S.W.3d 60, 69 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000); Ex Parte Granviel, 561 S.W.2d 503, 511 (Tex. Crim. App. 1978). Therefore, if a statute can be construed in two different ways, one of which sustains its validity, we apply the interpretation that sustains its validity. Rodriguez, 93 S.W.3d at 69; Mody v State, 2 S.W.3d 652, 654-55 (Tex. App.CHouston [14th Dist.] 1999, pet. ref'd). The burden is on the movant to prove the law is unconstitutional. See

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