Schneider v. State
| Decision Date | 01 October 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 96-1469,96-1469 |
| Citation | 700 So.2d 1239 |
| Parties | 22 Fla. L. Weekly D2297 Joseph Francis SCHNEIDER, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Rehearing and Certification Denied
Nov. 19, 1997.
Richard L. Jorandby, Public Defender, and Ian Seldin, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Joseph A. Tringali, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.
We affirm Appellant's conviction and sentence on multiple counts, including nine counts of possessing material that includes sexual performance by a child. We find no error in the trial court's construction of section 827.071(5), Florida Statutes (1995), as covering exposed but undeveloped film in Appellant's camera. That section provides:
It is unlawful for any person to knowingly possess a photograph, motion picture, exhibition, show, representation, or other presentation which, in whole or in part, he knows to include any sexual conduct by a child. The possession of each such photograph ... is a separate offense.
§ 827.071(5)(emphasis added).
The evidence reflects that Appellant induced two boys, ages 12 and 13, to pose for a photographic session in the nude and engage in sexual acts with each other. Police later searched Appellant's apartment and confiscated a camera with undeveloped film in it. The subsequently developed film in Appellant's camera depicted nine pictures of the boys in sexual positions.
The statute is not ambiguous. We construe it, applying plain and ordinary meaning to its wording. Plante v. Department of Bus. & Prof'l Regulation, 685 So.2d 886, 888 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996). The statutory language is both clear and applicable. The dictionary definition lends further credence to our construction. Webster's defines the term photograph as "a picture or likeness obtained by photography" with the root word photography defined as "the art or process of producing images on a sensitized surface (as a film) by the action of radiant energy and esp. light." Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 857 (10th ed.1993)(emphasis added). Hence, by definition, a photograph is the exposure of the film at the time the picture is snapped. A hard copy of the photograph is a print and the developed film would be a negative. Although the American Heritage Dictionary, cited by Appellant, does define a photograph as "an image, especially a positive print, recorded by a camera and reproduced on a photosensitive...
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Jenrette-Smith v. State
...moment he took them. It cites no authority for that proposition. But when making this argument the State relied on Schneider v. State, 700 So.2d 1239 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997), in which the Fourth District held that exposed but undeveloped film inside a camera is a “photograph” for purposes of se......
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People v. St. James, No. 99CA2069.
...the enticement of minors for `the purpose of producing' a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct"); cf. Schneider v. State, 700 So.2d 1239, 1239 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1997)(recognizing that photographs are obtained through the process of This result is consistent with the purposes underly......
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Baker v. Com.
...no merit in Appellant's proposition, and agree with the reasoning of the Florida District Court of Appeals in Schneider v. Florida, 700 So.2d 1239, 1240 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1997): Webster's defines the term photograph as "a picture or likeness obtained by photography" with the root word photog......
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State v. Farnham, 5D98-3335.
..."arising from violations of that subsection." Id. at 441. Soon thereafter, the fourth district issued an opinion in Schneider v. State, 700 So.2d 1239 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). In that case, the defendant was charged in multiple counts with violating section 827.071(5). The evidence reflected th......