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Reversal reinstates lewdness charges

An appeals court rules that lewd acts in strip clubs can be prosecuted if officers are the only offended parties. A recent state law says the same.

By COLLEEN JENKINS
Published November 5, 2005

This summer, lawmakers made it easier for undercover cops to pin lewdness charges on exotic dancers.

On Friday, an appellate court joined the chorus.

The 2nd District Court of Appeal overturned four Pasco County judges who ruled that lewd acts in strip clubs couldn't be prosecuted if the only person offended was a law enforcement officer.

As part of the local decisions, lewd conduct charges against 10 exotic dancers were dismissed.

The reversal's main impact is that it reinstates the women's charges in Pasco. New cases will fall under the law that took effect statewide July 1.

The appellate court also found that lewdness - defined as "any indecent or obscene act" by state statutes - does not require any offended parties.

"We thought the law always was that way," said Assistant State Attorney Marie King, who helped appeal the Pasco rulings.

Tampa attorney Luke Lirot, noted for his defense of the adult entertainment industry, convinced local courts otherwise. Drawing on a 1991 Florida Supreme Court decision, Lirot argued that undercover law enforcement officers didn't count as offended members of the public.

In April 2003, County Judge Marc Salton agreed and dismissed the cases. The state appealed to a panel of circuit judges. Circuit Judges W. Lowell Bray, Daniel Diskey and Stanley Mills upheld the county court decision last year.

Meantime, local lawmakers decided to correct what they saw as a serious impediment to law enforcement's ability to regulate behavior inside adult clubs.

They ushered in a bill that returned the right to law enforcement officers to testify as the offended party.

Pasco sheriff's deputies promptly conducted their first strip club sting since the April 2003 decision. The July sting at six west Pasco clubs resulted in 15 new arrests, though the charges were for exposure of sexual organs and prostitution, not lewd conduct.

King pointed out Friday that the new law didn't require an offended party either.

Now, "this opinion clearly rejects that argument," she said.

The appellate judges said the county and circuit courts erred in basing their definition of lewdness on the 1991 state Supreme Court case offered by Lirot. The judges relied instead on cases that said offensiveness to others was not an element of the lewd conduct offense and that the Legislature did not intend for a more narrow definition of indecency crimes.

Lirot, who represents all 10 women, could not be reached Friday. King said he could request a rehearing with the district court but could not appeal this particular type of review to the state Supreme Court.

Colleen Jenkins can be reached at 727 869-6236 or cjenkins@sptimes.com

[Last modified November 5, 2005, 01:22:18]