BRODERICK CAMERON FURLOW v. STATE OF FLORIDA , 237 So. 3d 443 ( 2018 )

NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING
MOTION AND, IF FILED, DETERMINED
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
BRODERICK FURLOW, DOC# S37568, )
)
Appellant, )
)
v. )
) Case No. 2D15-1565
STATE OF FLORIDA, )
)
Appellee. )
)
Opinion filed February 2, 2018.
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Manatee
County; Stephen Dakan, Senior Judge.
Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and
Matthew D. Bernstein, Assistant Public
Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.
Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General,
Tallahassee, and Darla Dooley, Assistant
Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.
SLEET, Judge.
Broderick Furlow appeals his judgment and sentences for two counts of
using a computer to commit lewd or lascivious exhibition, a second-degree felony under
section 847.0135(5)(b), Florida Statutes (2013), following a jury trial. Because we agree
with Furlow that the State failed to prove a violation of section 847.0135(5), we reverse.
At trial, the State presented evidence that Furlow contacted the victim on a
messaging application using his phone. After the victim asked him not to contact her
anymore, Furlow sent several sexually explicit messages—the content of which made it
clear that he was aware the victim was only twelve years old—and sent two pictures of
his genitalia. The State admitted screenshots of the messages at trial, reflecting that
Furlow and the victim were exchanging messages contemporaneously with each other.
Using a computer to commit lewd or lascivious exhibition is defined as
follows:
A person who . . . [i]ntentionally exposes the genitals in a
lewd or lascivious manner . . . live over a computer online
service, Internet service, or local bulletin board service and
who knows or should know or has reason to believe that the
transmission is viewed on a computer or television monitor
by a victim who is less than 16 years of age.
§ 847.0135(5)(a) (emphasis added). Furlow contends that the trial court should have
granted his motion for judgment of acquittal because transmitting a photograph is not a
live exposure and therefore could never be a violation of section 847.0135(5). The
State responds that it presented sufficient evidence that the pictures were sent as part
of a live conversation, which it believes satisfies the language of section 847.0135(5)(a).
We disagree.
Historically, the crime of lewd or lascivious exhibition has required a
contemporaneity of time and place to support a conviction. See, e.g., State v. Werner,
609 So. 2d 585, 586 (Fla. 1992) (explaining that to prove lewd or lascivious exhibition
under section 800.04(3), Florida Statutes (1987), the State must offer evidence that the
defendant committed a "lewd or lascivious act in the presence of any child" and defining
presence as "encompass[ing] sensory awareness as well as physical proximity"). And
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Florida courts have previously reversed convictions for lewd or lascivious exhibition
under section 800.04 when they were based on showing a photograph to the victim.
See Adams v. Culver, 111 So. 2d 665, 666 (Fla. 1959) (holding that showing a child a
"lewd and pornographic picture" did not support a conviction for lewd or lascivious
exhibition under section 800.04 and explaining that it would support a charge under
section 847.01, Florida Statutes (1957), which prohibited showing a lewd photograph to
a minor); Brady v. State, 553 So. 2d 316, 317 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989) (concluding that
throwing nude photographs from an automobile did not constitute lewd or lascivious
exhibition under section 800.04 because the defendant "did not commit a lewd act in the
presence of a child").
The legislature removed the requirement that the victim and the offender
share the same location in 2000 when it created the offense of using a computer to
commit lewd or lascivious exhibition, requiring only that the exhibition be "live over a
computer on-line service." Ch. 00-246, §1, at 2399, Laws of Fla. Although not
controlling, a review of the legislative history behind section 847.0135(5)(a) is helpful to
our determination. The legislature originally included this offense in section
800.04(7)(b); when it was enacted, the language was materially identical to the current
language in section 847.0135(5)(a). Ch. 00-246, §1, Laws of Fla. The Juvenile Justice
Committee's staff analysis for the house bill recognizes that historically the offense of
lewd or lascivious exhibition required that the offender and the victim "share proximity of
both 'real' time and 'real' vicinity to the prohibited act" but that online services "make it
possible for individuals to share proximity of time and 'virtual vicinity' though they may
be physically located miles apart." Fla. H.R. Comm. on Juv. Justice, HB 683 (2000)
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Staff Analysis 5-6 (Jan. 27, 2000). The staff analysis reflects that accordingly, the bill
was designed to address "the 'virtual vicinity' capability of the Internet. . . . In other
words, the bill penalizes lewd or lascivious exhibition whether it occurs 'live and in
person' or 'live over the Internet.' " Id. at 6.
The plain language of section 847.0135(5)(a) requires that the lewd or
lascivious exhibition occur "live" over an online service. Moreover, the history of the
crime of lewd or lascivious exhibition and the legislative documents surrounding the
creation of the crime of using a computer to commit lewd or lascivious exhibition support
our conclusion that section 847.0135(5)(a) prohibits only live conduct; while the
legislature intended to remove the requirement that the exhibition occur while the
offender and the victim were in the same location, it did not remove the requirement that
the act of exhibition occur contemporaneously. Although the transmission of the lewd
pictures occurred as part of a live conversation between the victim and the defendant,
the content of the still images was not live. As such, the State failed to prove that the
exhibition was live within the meaning of section 847.0135(5)(a).
We note that the State's evidence in this case may have supported a
conviction for transmission of material harmful to a minor under section 847.0138(2).
See, e.g., Duclos-Lasnier v. State, 192 So. 3d 1234, 1240 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016);
Simmons v. State, 886 So. 2d 399, 403 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004) (explaining that section
847.0138 "pertains to harmful images . . . sent to a specific individual known by the
defendant to be minor"), approved, 944 So. 2d 317 (Fla. 2006). But the State did not
charge Furlow with a violation of section 847.0138(2), nor did it seek a jury instruction
based on section 847.0138(2). And the State has not identified, nor could we find, a
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Florida case upholding a conviction for lewd or lascivious exhibition under section
847.0135(5) or section 800.04 based on the transmission of still images. Without any
evidence that Furlow exposed himself live over the Internet or another online service,
we are constrained to reverse Furlow's convictions under section 847.0135(5). See
Lifka v. State, 530 So. 2d 371, 376 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988); see also Hutchinson v. State,
315 So. 2d 546, 547 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975) ("[I]t is . . . axiomatic that statutes creating and
defining crimes cannot be extended by construction or interpretation to punish an act,
however wrongful, unless clearly within the intent and terms of the statute."). We
remand for the trial court to vacate Furlow's judgment and sentences in this case
number.
Reversed and remanded with instructions.
VILLANTI and BADALAMENTI, JJ., Concur.
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