Frix v. State

• Decision Date: 25 June 2009
• Docket Number: No. A09A0172.,A09A0172.
• Citation: 680 S.E.2d 582,298 Ga. App. 538
• Parties: FRIX v. The STATE.
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals

680 S.E.2d 582

298 Ga. App. 538

FRIX v. The STATE.

No. A09A0172.

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

June 25, 2009.

John L. Strauss, Covington, for appellant.

W. Kendall Wynne, Jr., Dist. Atty., Melanie M. Bell, Asst. Dist. Atty., for appellee.

MILLER, Chief Judge.

A Newton County grand jury indicted Joseph Britton Frix on counts of (1) electronically furnishing obscene materials to minors in violation of OCGA § 16-12-100.1 (Count 1); (2) distribution of harmful materials to a minor in violation of OCGA § 16-12-103 (Count 2); (3) obscene telephone contact with a minor in violation of OCGA § 16-12-100.3 (Count 3); and (4) possession of methamphetamine in violation of OCGA § 16-13-30 (Count 4). In response to Frix's general demurrer and motion to quash the indictment, the State, with Frix's consent, filed an accusation charging Frix with the same offenses but more specifically describing the alleged unlawful conduct providing the basis for Counts 1-3. Namely, the State alleged that Frix "sent text messages via cellular telephone to [a minor] in which [he] described sexual acts he wished to perform on said minor," in violation of the relevant statutes. Thereafter, the trial court held a hearing on Frix's general demurrer and motion to quash, which the parties treated as applicable to the new accusation, and following the hearing, issued an order denying Frix's motion to quash. We granted Frix's application for interlocutory appeal, and Frix now appeals from the trial court's order, arguing, by six enumerations of error, that none of the statutes the State alleges he violated in the first three counts of the accusation, OCGA §§ 16-12-100.1, 16-12-103, and 16-12-100.3, proscribe his alleged conduct and that these statutes failed to give him fair notice that his alleged conduct was unlawful. For the reasons set forth below, we agree with Frix that Counts 1 and 3 of the accusation alleging violation of OCGA §§ 16-12-100.1 and 16-12-100.3, respectively, should have been quashed but conclude that the trial court properly denied Frix's motion as to Count 2 alleging violation of OCGA § 16-12-103. Accordingly, we affirm in part and reverse in part.

"We begin by noting that the interpretation of a statute is a question of law, which is reviewed de novo on appeal. Because the trial court's ruling on a legal question is not due any deference, we apply the `plain legal error' standard of review." (Citation omitted.) Sharma v. State, 294 Ga.App. 783, 784, 670 S.E.2d 494 (2008).

1. Frix argues the trial court should have dismissed Count 1 of the accusation because (1) his alleged conduct, sending sexually explicit text messages to a minor via a cellular telephone, does not fall within the scope OCGA § 16-12-100.1 and (2) the State has unconstitutionally applied OCGA § 16-12-100.1 because he did not have fair notice that his conduct was prohibited by that statute. For the reasons set forth below, we agree that the conduct alleged in the accusation does not establish a violation of OCGA § 16-12-100.1.

(a) OCGA § 16-12-100.1(b) provides, in relevant part, that:

A person commits the crime of electronically furnishing obscene materials to minors if:

(1) Knowing or having good reason to know the character of the material furnished, the person electronically furnishes to an individual whom the person knows or should have known is a minor (B) Any written ... matter that ... contains explicit verbal descriptions or narrative accounts of sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse.

Frix does not dispute that the text messages described in the indictment constitute "written ... matter" containing "narrative accounts of sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse." He argues, rather, that when such written matter is transmitted to a minor via a text message, it has not been "electronically furnished" within the meaning of the statute. In support of his argument, Frix relies on OCGA § 16-12-100.1(a)(3), which states:

"Electronically furnishes" means:

(A) To make available by electronic storage device, including floppy disks and other magnetic storage devices, or by CD-ROM; or

(B) To make available by allowing access to information stored in a computer, including making material available by operating a computer bulletin board.

We analyze Frix's argument in light of the applicable principles of statutory construction:

In construing a statute, our goal is to determine its legislative purpose. In this regard, a court must first focus on the statute's text. In order to discern the meaning of the words of a statute, the reader must look at the context in which the statute was written, remembering at all times that the meaning of a sentence may be more than that of the separate words, as a melody is more than the notes. If the words of a statute, however, are plain and capable of having but one meaning, and do not produce any absurd, impractical, or contradictory results, then this Court is bound to follow the meaning of those words. If, on the other hand, the words of the statute are ambiguous, then this Court must construe the statute, keeping in mind the purpose of the statute and the old law, the evil, and the remedy. OCGA § 1-3-1(a). Moreover, because [OCGA § 16-12-100.1] is a criminal statute, it must be strictly construed against the State.

(Citation and punctuation omitted.) State v. Brown, 250 Ga.App. 376, 378-379(1), 551 S.E.2d 773 (2001).

The State apparently concedes that a sending a text message by cellular phone cannot be equated with "allowing access to information stored in a computer," as the State places its reliance solely on OCGA § 16-12-100.1(a)(3)(A). We agree that sending a text message over a cellular phone does not meet the definition of "electronically furnishes" set forth in OCGA § 16-12-100.1(a)(3)(B) as to allowing access to information stored in a computer.

According to the State, however, transmitting material by text message meets the statutory definition of "electronically furnishes" in OCGA § 16-12-100.1(a)(3)(A) because such transmittal constitutes making the material "available by electronic storage device." The State maintains, and we agree, that modern cellular phones are capable of storing large amounts of electronic information. See United States v. Park, No. CR 05-375 SI, 2007 WL 1521573, at *8, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40596, at *21-22 (N.D.Cal. May 23, 2007) (noting, in ruling on motion to suppress warrantless search of defendant's cellular phone, that modern cellular phones "have the capacity for storing immense amounts of private information," including incoming and outgoing calls, address books, calendars, voice and text messages, e-mail, video, and pictures). That cellular phones have the capacity to store electronic information does not end our inquiry, however, because we cannot construe the phrase "electronic storage device" in isolation. Rather, it must be read in context and in light of OCGA § 16-12-100.1(a)(3)(A) as a whole. Brown, supra, 250 Ga.App. at 378-379(1), 551 S.E.2d 773 ("[T]he meaning of a sentence may be more than that of the separate words. ...") (citation and punctuation omitted).

OCGA § 16-12-100.1(a)(3)(A) states that "electronically furnishes" means "[t]o make available by electronic storage device, including floppy disks and other magnetic storage devices, or by CD-ROM." (Emphasis supplied.) The term "including" is susceptible of more than one meaning. For example, as noted by Black's Law Dictionary, the word "including," when used in a statute may be "interpreted as a word of enlargement or of illustrative application as well as a word of limitation." Black's Law Dictionary at 763 (6th ed.). Our Supreme Court has acknowledged that the meaning of the term "including" and whether it should be interpreted as one of limitation "depends on the context, the subject matter, and legislative intent." (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Berryhill v. Ga. Community Support & Solutions, 281 Ga. 439, 441, 638 S.E.2d 278 (2006). Where, as here, "a general term [such as `electronic storage device'] is followed by the word `including,' which is itself followed by specific terms, the intent may be one of limitation." (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Id. Viewed in context, we conclude that the most reasonable construction of "including" in OCGA § 16-12-100.1(a)(3)(A), is that it is a term of limitation in that the examples which follow, CD-ROMs and floppy disks, define and limit the meaning of the phrase, "[t]o make available by electronic storage device."

A floppy disk and CD-ROM are similar in nature. They are used primarily if not solely to store information or material that can then be accessed or read by a computer. See OCGA § 16-12-100.1(a)(2) ("`CD-ROM' means a compact disc with read only memory which has the capacity to store audio, video, and written materials and is used by computers to reveal the above-said material"). By contrast, a cellular phone is used, among other things, as a communication device, and one need not use a computer to access stored information on a cellular phone. Information, once stored on a CD-ROM or floppy disk, would have to be made available by accessing it from the device itself, using a computer. Text messages, on the other hand, are transmitted from one phone to another and need not be made available by furnishing the phone itself to another person or allowing another person to have access to the phone. Given these distinctions between cellular phones and the examples of electronic storage devices enumerated in OCGA § 16-12-100.1(a)(3)(A), we cannot conclude that sending a text message constitutes making material available "by electronic storage device" within the meaning of that subsection.

If the General Assembly had intended the term "electronic storage device" to encompass any and all devices of any nature capable of storing electronic information, it was unnecessary for it to list specific...