State v. Martin (Slip Opinion)

2016 Ohio 7196, 75 N.E.3d 109, 149 Ohio St. 3d 292
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 5, 2016
Docket2014-2028
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 2016 Ohio 7196 (State v. Martin (Slip Opinion)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Martin (Slip Opinion), 2016 Ohio 7196, 75 N.E.3d 109, 149 Ohio St. 3d 292 (Ohio 2016).

Opinions

Pfeifer, J.

Background

{¶ 1} On March 18, 2012, appellant, Terry Lee Martin, surreptitiously recorded an 11-year-old female while she was undressed in a bathroom. Martin was indicted for two felonies: creating nudity-oriented material involving a minor, R.C. 2907.323(A)(1), and possession of criminal tools, R.C. 2923.24(A).

{¶ 2} The parties stipulated that Martin recorded the video at issue, that the person in the video is a minor, that the recording was not “for a bona fide artistic, medical, scientific, educational, religious, governmental, judicial, or other proper purpose,” R.C. 2907.323(A)(1)(a), and that the girl’s parents had not consented in writing to the creation of the video, see R.C. 2907.323(A)(1)(b). Martin waived his right to a jury trial and was found guilty by the trial court of both felonies charged.

{¶ 3} On appeal, Martin raised one assignment of error—that the trial court had not applied the proper definition of nudity in convicting him of violating R.C. 2907.323(A)(1). The court of appeals affirmed the conviction, 2014-Ohio-3640, 18 N.E.3d 799, and certified that its judgment was in conflict with State v. Graves, 184 Ohio App.3d 39, 2009-Ohio-974, 919 N.E.2d 753, ¶ 9 (4th Dist.) (applying definition of nudity set forth in State v. Young, 37 Ohio St.3d 249, 525 N.E.2d 1363 (1988), rev’d on other grounds, Osborne v. Ohio, 495 U.S. 103, 110, 110 S.Ct. 1691, 109 L.Ed.2d 98 (1990), for purposes of R.C. 2907.323(A)(3), to R.C. 2907.323(A)(1)). We declined to accept jurisdiction over Martin’s discretionary appeal, 141 Ohio St.3d 1457, 2015-Ohio-239, 23 N.E.3d 1198; however, we determined that a conflict exists and ordered the parties to brief the following issue:

“With respect to R.C. 2907.323(A)(1), which proscribes the creation or production of nudity-oriented material involving a minor, which definition [293]*293of nudity applies: the statutory definition (R.C. 2907.01(H)), or the narrower definition set forth in State v. Young, 37 Ohio St.3d 249, 525 N.E.2d 1363, which requires additional elements of ‘lewd depiction’ and ‘graphic focus on the genitals?’ ”

141 Ohio St.3d 1452, 2015-Ohio-239, 23 N.E.3d 1194, quoting 2d Dist. Montgomery No. 26033 (Nov. 4, 2014), at 6.

{¶ 4} For the reasons explained below, we conclude that the statutory definition applies, and we therefore affirm the judgment of the court of appeals.

Analysis

{¶ 5} R.C. 2907.323 concerns the illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance. R.C. 2907.323(A)(1) provides:

(A) No person shall do any of the following:
(1) Photograph any minor who is not the person’s child or ward in a state of nudity, or create, direct, produce, or transfer any material or performance that shows the minor in a state of nudity, unless both of the following apply:
(a) The material or performance is, or is to be, sold, disseminated, displayed, possessed, controlled, brought or caused to be brought into this state, or presented for a bona fide artistic, medical, scientific, educational, religious, governmental, judicial, or other proper purpose, by or to a physician, psychologist, sociologist, scientist, teacher, person pursuing bona fide studies or research, librarian, member of the clergy, prosecutor, judge, or other person having a proper interest in the material or performance;
(b) The minor’s parents, guardian, or custodian consents in writing to the photographing of the minor, to the use of the minor in the material or performance, or to the transfer of the material and to the specific manner in which the material or performance is to be used.

{¶ 6} As stated above, the parties stipulated to facts that eliminate the possibility that the exception created by subsections (a) and (b) applies, to wit, the recording was not made for a proper purpose and was not made with the consent of the minor’s parents. The only issue for review is the certified question, which essentially is: Which definition of nudity applies to R.C. 2907.323(A)(1)?

{¶ 7} R.C. 2907.01 provides:

[294]*294As used in sections 2907.01 to 2907.38 of the Revised Code:
* * *
(H) “Nudity” means the showing, representation, or depiction of human male or female genitals, pubic area, or buttocks with less than a full, opaque covering, or of a female breast with less than a full opaque covering of any portion thereof below the top of the nipple.

{¶ 8} Martin argues that the definition enunciated in Young, 37 Ohio St.3d at 252, 525 N.E.2d 1363, which is markedly narrower than R.C. 2907.01(H), should be used. In Young, this court analyzed R.C. 2907.323(A)(3), which—then and now—prohibits possession of materials of the same nature as those described in R.C. 2907.323(A)(1), subject to essentially the same exception. We concluded that the statute does not prohibit the possession of materials that depict mere nudity, which is expression protected by the First Amendment. Young at 251, citing New York v. Ferber, 458 U.S. 747, 765, 102 S.Ct. 3348, 73 L.Ed.2d 1113 (1982), fn. 18. Instead, we concluded that R.C. 2907.323(A)(3) prohibits possession of materials that depict nudity that “constitutes a lewd exhibition or involves a graphic focus on the genitals.” Young at 252.

{¶ 9} Martin argues that the state of nudity recorded in this case does not satisfy the definition of nudity set forth in Young. We agree in that the video is not lewd or focused on the genitals. But Martin also contends that because the Young definition is not met in this case, he cannot be convicted of violating R.C. 2907.323(A)(1). We disagree.

A. Pornography and child-oriented nudity

{¶ 10} “States have broad powers to regulate distribution of obscene material, but not the private possession of it in one’s home.” State v. Tooley, 114 Ohio St.3d 366, 2007-Ohio-3698, 872 N.E.2d 894, ¶ 9, citing Stanley v. Georgia, 394 U.S. 557, 567-568, 89 S.Ct. 1243, 22 L.Ed.2d 542 (1969). In Stanley, the United States Supreme Court stated that the “right to receive information and ideas, regardless of their social worth * * * is fundamental to our free society.” Stanley at 564. Nevertheless, Stanley does not protect purveyors or possessors of child pornography. State v. Meadows, 28 Ohio St.3d 43, 46, 503 N.E.2d 697 (1986); Osborne, 495 U.S. at 110, 110 S.Ct. 1691, 109 L.Ed.2d 98.

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State v. Martin (Slip Opinion)
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Bluebook (online)
2016 Ohio 7196, 75 N.E.3d 109, 149 Ohio St. 3d 292, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-martin-slip-opinion-ohio-2016.