JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG

WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL RICHARD E GERSTEIN JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG. THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO JUSTICE BUILDING RUMOR, HUMOR, AND A DISCUSSION ABOUT AND BETWEEN THE JUDGES, LAWYERS AND THE DEDICATED SUPPORT STAFF, CLERKS, COURT REPORTERS, AND CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS WHO LABOR IN THE WORLD OF MIAMI'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE. POST YOUR COMMENTS, OR SEND RUMPOLE A PRIVATE EMAIL AT HOWARDROARK21@GMAIL.COM. Winner of the prestigious Cushing Left Anterior Descending Artery Award.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

KEEP IT COMING LOVE

CROMARTIE, 4D05-1568 (Fla.App. 4 Dist. 2006)

STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellant, v. XAVIER CROMARTIE, Appellee.

No. 4D05-1568.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

September 27, 2006.

Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Broward County, John Murphy III, Judge, L.T. Case No. 04-22513 MM10A.

Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Myra J. Fried, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellant.

No appearance for appellee.

STONE, J.

Cromartie, a county jail inmate, was masturbating in a jail cell while looking at deputy Francine Smith. She observed him and ordered him to stop. Instead, he continued. The jail cell was in the jail infirmary and was open to view.

Cromartie was charged with violating section 800.03 Florida Statutes, covering exposure of sexual organs.[fn1]

The trial court granted a motion to dismiss, reasoning that a police officer cannot be an offended party as to the exposure of sexual organs and that a jail cell is not a public place, relying on State v. Silvers, 7 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 592 (Fla. 17th Cir. July 31, 2000).

Section 800.03 Florida Statutes, reads:

800.03 Exposure of sexual organs — It is unlawful to expose or exhibit one's sexual organs in public or on the private premises of another, or so near thereto as to be seen from such private premises, in a vulgar or indecent manner, or to be naked in public except in any place provided or set apart for that purpose. Violation of this section is a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. A mother's breastfeeding of her baby does not under any circumstance violate this section.

The question is whether Cromartie's exposure was "in public," "so near [the private premises of another] as to be seen from such private premises," or if he was "naked in public [in a] place provided or set apart for that purpose." We note that, by its plain wording, the statute does not require the state prove a party was offended. We further note that the offense is defined by whether the conduct occurs in public or private, and under what conditions. See State v. Kees, 919 So. 2d 504, 505 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005).

There are patently aspects of a jail cell that do not comport with a public place in the sense that it is not open to the public at large. However, we can discern no basis to ignore the fact that the cell in this case[fn2] is public in the aspect that an inmate has no control over persons being present at any given time. Cromartie's infirmary cell was open to view by any authorized employee, nursing staff, cleaning personnel, or visitors. Further, as soon as the deputy told him to stop, Cromartie was on notice that he was not alone. He, nevertheless, chose to continue his display, in violation of the statute.

We reverse the trial court's dismissal and remand for further proceedings.

STEVENSON, C.J. and POLEN, J., concur.

Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

[fn1] We note that Cromartie was also charged with violation of section 843.02 Florida Statutes, resisting officer without violence. This charge was not at issue in the instant appeal.

[fn2] We need not resolve whether this would apply to all jail cells.


Rumpole says, MEMO TO THE 4TH DCA RE: FN2: NOW YOU DO.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

NORTH OF THE BORDER UPDATE:

Say what you will, but at todays misdemeanor calendar call in Broward, an exchange sure to send chills down the spine of our judiciary:

Counsel: Judge this is the first time up for....

Judge: What do you want? (nicely)

Counsel: A continuance

Judge: Granted, and give him an order for depositions.

Yep. No Motion, no good cause, no objection from the state.

In fact, I appeared with a typed order for depos as I know that in Broward they don't require written motions for depos, and the prosecutor laughed and said "you dont even need that."

Why?

Because on the notice they give you for the next court date it is typewritten "DEPOSITIONS GRANTED" with a check box next to it.

But lets continue to waste time in Dade on this, so we can appease the PBA who doesn't want their cops deposed.

Anonymous said...

Rump- Marias Greek restaurant on Coral Way and about 23rd street is the New Au Bon Pain, with dozens of REGJB regulars streaming in for lunch during the week. Chief Judge Country Joe Farnia can often been seen emjoying the Mousaka and greek salad, while defense lawyers and prosecutors banter at each other from the nearby tables. The federal PDs also show up en mass during the week. Today, State PD superstar Warren "gyro" Schwartz was holding court with Alan Shuminer and his posse.

Question rumpola: Have you eaten there and were you there today?

Anonymous said...

In Jewish folklore, a golem (גולם, sometimes, as in Yiddish, pronounced goilem) is an animated being created entirely from inanimate matter. In modern Hebrew the word golem literally means 'cocoon', but can also mean "fool", "silly", or even "stupid". The name appears to derive from the word gelem (גלם), which means "raw material".


Why do people still tolerate Golembe?

Anonymous said...

I don't know why people continue to even talk about Golumbe. He's pretty much irrelevant

Anonymous said...

Alan, what about all these typos from fake zorba? I'm concerned.

Chris.

Anonymous said...

Chris,

As long as they spell my name right on the check and cash it, its ok, little buddy.

Alan.

Anonymous said...

"such a deal "
wow things getting slow down south ,huh ???

Anonymous said...

I eat at Maria's too. I think it is a tad bit better than the Greek place at Coral Way and 12th Ave.

Nice place and yes, you do see lots of judges there.

Mike Catalano

Anonymous said...

It's "Keep it comin'love," Rump.

Harry Wayne Casey would like some damn respect.

Don't stop it now don't stop it no, don't stop it now, don't stop it no

Anonymous said...

The 12 Greatest Songs Ever About Masturbation!

12) "Praying Hands" - Devo


11) "Holiday Song" – The Pixies


10) "She Bop" - Cyndi Lauper

The only reason this got played on mid-80s top 40 stations is lines like "I wanna go south n' get me some more" were so slurred that nice moms across the country just thought that crazy Cyndi was talking nonsense.

9) "Turning Japanese" - The Vapors

"Turning Japanese" apparently refers to the dude's tendency to squint his eyes when he shoots a hot load. Racism is sooo sexy.

8) "Vibrator Dependent" - Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper

Poor, poor Mojo. His woman done got addicted to them fancy battery-operated dildos and now he ain’t gettin’ no love.

7) "Icicle" - Tori Amos

Tori bangs herself until she comes during Sunday mass. Enough said.

6) "My Ding-a-Ling" – Chuck Berry


5) "When I think about you I Touch Myself" - The Divinyls


4) "Orgasm Addict" - Buzzcocks

this upbeat punk song from the originators of power pop is an absolute classic.

3) "Do it one Time for Me" - The Reverend Horton Heat

2) "Dancin' with Myself" - Billy Idol

“Dancing with myself is the Feel Good Masturbatory Hit of the Millennium.

1) "Blister in the Sun" - The Violent Femmes

“Blister in the Sun” is the most well known contemporary masturbation song.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the yiddish update.

Now how did you get the computer to type the Hebrew alphabet?

It would certainly help me express myself more eloquently. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

http://www.fida-online.com/

we are stiil working for you. please visit.

Anonymous said...

Selection Votes
JOHN EDWARDS 17% 8
SENATOR CLINTON 35% 17
SENATOR McCAIN 2% 1
SENATOR OBAMA 13% 6
FRED THOMPSON 8% 4
RUDY GIULIANI 19% 9
SENATOR DODD 0% 0
SENATOR BIDEN 2% 1
GOVERNOR RICHARDSON 2% 1
CONGRESSMAN KUCINICH 2% 1

48 votes total

Rumpole said...

2:30 I must reluctantly agree. County court in Broward could not be easier. No problem with depos; no problem with continuances.

4:03 - Now that song was playing as the courthouse thumbed to a disco beat in the 70's as I have previously written.

And thank you 7:40- we HAVE NEW POLLS UP. VOTE VOTE VOTE.

Anonymous said...

Wrongfully Jailed Men to Get $101 Million

An amazing story of four men wrongfully imprisoned.

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/wrongfully-jailed-men-to-get-101-million/20070726152809990001

Anonymous said...

For full details about the $101 million verdict against the FBI, check out the Boston Globe online, at:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/07/27/us_ordered_to_pay_1017m_in_false_murder_convictions/