Webb v. State

575 N.E.2d 1066, 1991 Ind. App. LEXIS 1319, 1991 WL 155600
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 13, 1991
Docket49A02-8901-CR-00029
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 575 N.E.2d 1066 (Webb v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Webb v. State, 575 N.E.2d 1066, 1991 Ind. App. LEXIS 1319, 1991 WL 155600 (Ind. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinions

SHIELDS, Presiding Judge.

Denise C. Webb appeals her conviction of prostitution, a class A misdemeanor.1

We affirm.

ISSUES

Webb presents several arguments on appeal which we restate as follows:

1. Whether Webb's conduct is regulated by Indiana's obscene performance statute, and thus cannot be prosecuted as prostitution;

2. Whether the statutory definition of "deviate sexual conduct" is unconstitutionally vague;

3. Whether the prostitution statute is unconstitutionally overbroad;

4. Whether the evidence is insufficient to sustain Webb's conviction; and

5. Whether Webb was entrapped.

[1068]*1068FACTS

As part of an Indianapolis Police Department investigation of the Dulcet modeling and escort service, informant Brian Barnes telephoned Dulcet on June 11, 1987, arranging for a "fantasy session" in his room at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Indianapolis. Webb arrived at the hotel with a driver, to whom Barnes paid $150. During the "session," Barnes twice attempted to persuade Webb to permit him to perform cunnilingus on her in exchange for which he would pay her an additional $200. She declined both offers. She did, however, perform a "bed dance," in which she danced over Barnes while disrobing. Barnes testified Webb subsequently inserted a flesh-colored penis-shaped object, referred to alternatively as a "dildoe" and a "special vibrator," into her anus in exchange for an additional payment of $50.

DECISION

I. OBSCENE PERFORMANCE STATUTE

Claiming her alleged conduct falls within the prohibitions of both the prostitution 2 and obscene performance3 statutes, Webb argues the separate criminal statutes are in para materia, and an "irreconcilable conflict" exists between them because only the obscene performance statute provides "a framework for determining if a performance which involves sexual conduct-but no sexual contact-is or is not protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution." Appellant's Brief at 25. Because this "irreconcilable conflict" exists, Webb continues, the more detailed statute prevails as to the subject matter it covers. Hence Webb concludes, given the nature of her alleged criminal conduct, her conviction for prostitution is contrary to law because she should have been prosecuted only under the more specific and detailed obscene performance statute.

Webb's argument is innovative but unavailing. The statutes are not in conflict. Both the prostitution statute and the obscene performance statute prohibit certain conduct; neither statute explicitly authorizes any conduct proscribed by the other. A conflict between the statutes is not cere-ated by the possibility the overlapping pro-seriptions may give rise to double jeopardy issues or by the inclusion of an obscenity provision in only one of the two statutes.

II. VAGUENESS

Webb argues the statutory scheme under which she was convicted is void for vagueness because it does not provide adequate notice the sexual conduct required to support a charge of prostitution need not involve bodily contact with another person.

When the constitutionality of a statute is challenged, we begin with a presumption of validity. A penal statute must provide individuals with adequate notice of the consequences of contemplated conduct. If individuals of ordinary intelligence must guess at its meaning or would reasonably differ as to its application, the statute is void for vagueness. Van Sant v. State (1988), Ind.App., 523 N.E.2d 229, 233.

Under Indiana law, prostitution must have as its object sexual intercourse, deviate sexual conduct, or the fondling of another person's genitals. IC 85-45-4-2. Webb was charged with agreeing to perform deviate sexual conduct for money; the specific conduct involved was an act of anal self-insertion with a physical object.

"Deviate sexual conduct" is defined in relevant part as "the penetration of the sex organ or anus of a person by an object." IC 35-41-1-9 (1988). Neither the definition of deviate sexual conduct nor the statute proscribing prostitution 4 requires the participation of more than one person in the act of penetration. Cf. People v. Greene (1981), N.Y.Crim.Ct., 110 Misc.2d 40, 441 N.Y.S.2d 636 (prostitution statute specifying sexual conduct "with another person" held to exclude "autoerotic" conduct).

[1069]*1069The prostitution statute places Webb and other persons on notice an agreement to perform deviate sexual conduct for money is prohibited; the statutory definition of deviate sexual conduct specifically includes anal insertion. Read together, the statutes are sufficiently clear to permit persons "[to] reasonably steer between lawful and unlawful conduct, with confidence that they know what [the statutes'] terms prohibit." American Booksellers Ass'n., Inc. v. Hudnut (1984), S.D.Ind., 598 F.Supp. 1316, 1339, aff'd, (1985), 7th Cir., 771 F.2d 323, aff'd, (1986), 475 U.S. 1001, 106 S.Ct. 1172, 89 L.Ed.2d 291.

III. OVERBREADTH

Webb argues the prostitution statute is unconstitutionally overbroad as applied to the facts of her case because her conduct is presumptively protected by the first amendment as evidenced by the legislature's enacting the obscenity and pornography statute, IC 85-49-1-1 et seq., (1988) which establishes certain procedural safeguards and substantive standards to determine if sexual performances can be penalized.

The State argues Webb's conduct, as a matter of law, is obscene and, therefore, the argument her conduct is protected by the first amendment is without merit. In support of its argument the State relies upon Sedelbauer v. State (1984), Ind.App., 462 N.E.2d 244, transfer denied; Richards v. State (1984), Ind.App., 461 N.E.2d 744, transfer denied; Sedelbauer v. State (1983), Ind.App., 455 N.E.2d 1159, trangfer denied; and Owens v. State (1981), Ind.App., 424 N.E.2d 169, transfer denied. The Sedelbauer cases and the Richards case involve charges of distributing obscene material brought under IC 35-30-10.1-2 (1982) (repealed 1988), recodified at IC 35-49-38-1 (1988). In each case a jury found the materials in question to be obscene, applying the standards elucidated in Miller v. California (1973), 413 U.S. 15, 24, 93 S.Ct. 2607, 2614, 37 L.Ed.2d 419, and incorporated in IC 35-30-10.1-1(c) (1982) (repealed 1983), recodified at IC 35-49-2-1 (1988). None of these cases speak of "ob scenity as a matter of law", and none hold that something may be considered obscene before it has been evaluated by a trier of fact under the Miller standards. In these cases the court exercised the "ultimate power of appellate courts to conduct an independent review of constitutional claims when necessary." Miller v.

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Bluebook (online)
575 N.E.2d 1066, 1991 Ind. App. LEXIS 1319, 1991 WL 155600, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/webb-v-state-indctapp-1991.