Taylor v. State
Taylor v. State
Opinion of the Court
Appellant, Jarrod L. Taylor, challenges the judgments and sentences entered upon his convictions of one count of unlawful possession of materials depicting sexual performance by a child (ten or more images) and fifty-five counts of unlawful possession of materials depicting sexual performance by a child. We affirm in all respects and write to address Taylor's argument that his convictions and sentences violate the prohibition against double jeopardy.
The facts relevant to Taylor's double jeopardy argument are straightforward. Taylor was arrested and charged with multiple counts of possession of child pornography. Each count of the information listed a unique file name corresponding to one of the unique images giving rise to the charges. The jury convicted Taylor, as charged, of count one - unlawful possession of materials depicting sexual performance by a child (ten or more images), contrary to section 775.0847(2) and (3)(a), Florida Statutes (2014), a second-degree felony. The jury also convicted Taylor, as charged, of counts three through twenty-one and twenty-three through fifty-eight-unlawful possession of materials depicting sexual performance by a child, contrary to section 827.071(5), Florida Statutes (2014), third-degree felonies.
Taylor argues that all of his convictions must be reversed because his conviction *1090of count one was predicated on possession of the images charged as counts three through fifty-eight. He contends that permitting the State to utilize other charged offenses to prove count one subjected him to multiple convictions and punishments for the same criminal conduct contrary to the prohibition against double jeopardy. Whether double jeopardy is violated based on undisputed facts is a question of law subject to a de novo standard of review. Armas v. State ,
Both the federal and state constitutions protect an accused from being "twice put in jeopardy" for "the same offense." See Amend. V, U.S. Const. ("No person shall ... be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ...."); Art. I, § 9, Fla. Const. ("No person shall ... be twice put in jeopardy for the same offense ...."). Even so, "there is no constitutional prohibition against multiple punishments for different offenses arising out of the same criminal transaction as long as the Legislature intends to authorize separate punishments." Valdes v. State ,
As both the United States Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court have observed, "the role of the constitutional guarantee against double jeopardy is limited to assuring that the court does not exceed its legislative authorization by imposing multiple punishments arising from a single criminal act." Hayes v. State ,
Our first (and often only) step in determining what the Legislature intended is to ask what the Legislature actually said in the text of the statute. See Schoeff v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. ,
(2) A violation of s. 827.071, s. 847.0135, s. 847.0137, or s. 847.0138shall be reclassified to the next higher degree as provided in subsection (3) if:
(a) The offender possesses 10 or more images of any form of child pornography regardless of content; and
(b) The content of at least one image contains one or more of the following:
1. A child who is younger than the age of 5.
2. Sadomasochistic abuse involving a child.
3. Sexual battery involving a child.
4. Sexual bestiality involving a child.
*10915. Any movie involving a child, regardless of length and regardless of whether the movie contains sound.
(Emphasis added). Consequently, the plain language of sections 775.0847(2) and 827.071(5)(a) outlines a clear legislative directive. Read together, those sections authorize a separate charge for each violation of section 827.071(5) and permit the State to reclassify each violation if the offender possesses ten or more images and the statutory criteria set forth in section 775.0847(2)(b) are satisfied. See also State v. Farnham ,
As the Second District observed in Walsh v. State ,
Because the plain language of the relevant statutes is clear, we do not resort to an analysis of the factors in section 775.021(4), Florida Statutes, commonly referred to as the Blockburger test,
In sum, the Legislature specifically contemplated the type of charges Taylor received. As a result, his convictions and sentences do not violate the prohibition against double jeopardy.
AFFIRMED.
COHEN and EISNAUGLE, JJ., concur.
Taylor was acquitted of count two and the court vacated his conviction of count twenty-two on double jeopardy grounds because it contained the same file name as count fourteen.
See Blockburger v. United States ,
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.