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Irregular News for 10.31.06
Florida's exposure law is clear: Keep your clothes on if anyone can see you.
But proving a violation of that law in court is another matter.
Florida Statute 800.03 came into play Oct. 23, when a Hobe Sound man was charged with two counts of misdemeanor exposure of sexual organs after allegedly exposing himself to neighbors.
Joan Pittman, 47, and Larry Roberts, 49, said their neighbor put on an indecent show by being naked and masturbating while standing at his bedroom window. Two sheriff's detectives said they also witnessed the action during an undercover sting.
William David Killen, 37, said he had the right to privacy in his Pine Circle home.
Pittman and Roberts shot about two hours of video in an attempt to catch Killen in the act. The video shows Killen naked while intermittently appearing at the window with the shade up, but the camera angle cuts him off below the waist.
For law enforcement, the case and the law were crystal clear.
"You cannot stand in front of a window and repeatedly and obsessively — walking back and forth in front of the window ... make sure people can see you," Martin County sheriff's spokeswoman Lt. Jenell Atlas said. "You cannot have sex in an open place."
Atlas said the case prompted deputies throughout the department to recount some of their more bizarre exposure experiences: a person walking naked across the Palm City Bridge, a man sleeping naked in the woods and, of course, sex on the beach.
"A man and woman (are) having sex on the beach. It's midnight. But there's nobody else out there. They're technically showing their genitals to the public," Atlas said, as an example. "But there's no public there."
But when a deputy on patrol sees the action, he's the public.
Atlas said the deputy has discretion to make the arrest or tell the paramours to get dressed and move along.
"I don't think people have that much problem knowing they have to wear clothes," Atlas said. You "cannot show your genitals to the public, in your house, in your car ..."
A legal expert said the case isn't open-and-shut.
"You can't hide behind the fact you're in your own home if you're masturbating and there's a good likelihood you'll be seen by others," said David Golden, a Stuart criminal defense attorney. "If you're in your home not intending to be seen by others, you certainly have an expectation of privacy and are more than able to walk in the nude ..."
Golden, who is not involved with the Killen case, said there are many factors to consider in such a criminal case.
Foremost would be establishing whether the exposed resident knew someone could see him.
Did anyone warn the person they could be seen? Does the window face the street?
Did the exposed know the routine of neighbors so as to avoid — or to ensure — being seen?
Golden added that neighbors videotaping neighbors could be tricky.
"At what point does (the neighbor) cross the line between being an average neighbor and being a 'Peeping Tom' herself?" Golden asked.
The State Attorney's Office in the Killen case had yet to determine whether to formally file the two exposure charges, drop them, change them or add more charges.
Regardless of the outcome, Killen's neighbors remained sure the law was broken.
"We know what we saw," Roberts said.
Killen maintained his innocence: "Everybody in South Florida thinks I masturbate at the window, and that just does not happen."
"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."
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Florida's exposure law is clear: Keep your clothes on if anyone can see you.
But proving a violation of that law in court is another matter.
Florida Statute 800.03 came into play Oct. 23, when a Hobe Sound man was charged with two counts of misdemeanor exposure of sexual organs after allegedly exposing himself to neighbors.
Joan Pittman, 47, and Larry Roberts, 49, said their neighbor put on an indecent show by being naked and masturbating while standing at his bedroom window. Two sheriff's detectives said they also witnessed the action during an undercover sting.
William David Killen, 37, said he had the right to privacy in his Pine Circle home.
Pittman and Roberts shot about two hours of video in an attempt to catch Killen in the act. The video shows Killen naked while intermittently appearing at the window with the shade up, but the camera angle cuts him off below the waist.
For law enforcement, the case and the law were crystal clear.
"You cannot stand in front of a window and repeatedly and obsessively — walking back and forth in front of the window ... make sure people can see you," Martin County sheriff's spokeswoman Lt. Jenell Atlas said. "You cannot have sex in an open place."
Atlas said the case prompted deputies throughout the department to recount some of their more bizarre exposure experiences: a person walking naked across the Palm City Bridge, a man sleeping naked in the woods and, of course, sex on the beach.
"A man and woman (are) having sex on the beach. It's midnight. But there's nobody else out there. They're technically showing their genitals to the public," Atlas said, as an example. "But there's no public there."
But when a deputy on patrol sees the action, he's the public.
Atlas said the deputy has discretion to make the arrest or tell the paramours to get dressed and move along.
"I don't think people have that much problem knowing they have to wear clothes," Atlas said. You "cannot show your genitals to the public, in your house, in your car ..."
A legal expert said the case isn't open-and-shut.
"You can't hide behind the fact you're in your own home if you're masturbating and there's a good likelihood you'll be seen by others," said David Golden, a Stuart criminal defense attorney. "If you're in your home not intending to be seen by others, you certainly have an expectation of privacy and are more than able to walk in the nude ..."
Golden, who is not involved with the Killen case, said there are many factors to consider in such a criminal case.
Foremost would be establishing whether the exposed resident knew someone could see him.
Did anyone warn the person they could be seen? Does the window face the street?
Did the exposed know the routine of neighbors so as to avoid — or to ensure — being seen?
Golden added that neighbors videotaping neighbors could be tricky.
"At what point does (the neighbor) cross the line between being an average neighbor and being a 'Peeping Tom' herself?" Golden asked.
The State Attorney's Office in the Killen case had yet to determine whether to formally file the two exposure charges, drop them, change them or add more charges.
Regardless of the outcome, Killen's neighbors remained sure the law was broken.
"We know what we saw," Roberts said.
Killen maintained his innocence: "Everybody in South Florida thinks I masturbate at the window, and that just does not happen."
"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."
source