Court Opinion

ID: 9779959
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 01:02:56.445869+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:33:48.201620
License: Public Domain

GRIFFIS, J.,
Dissenting:
¶ 51. The conviction of Justin David Shaffer under Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-5-33(6) (Rev.2006) should be affirmed. The evidence presented to the jury clearly and overwhelmingly proved that Shaffer enticed and solicited, through telephonic and computer communications, a person he believed to be a thirteen-year-old girl to have sex. Shaffer traveled from his home to meet this thirteen-year-old girl, and he had the sole intention of having sex with a thirteen-year-old girl.
¶ 52. I dissent from the majority opinion because I believe its analysis takes an unnecessary and imprudent legal route to achieve the same result that I reach. Said differently, but just as Judge Roberts has concluded in his dissent, I am of the opinion that the majority’s analysis and conclusion that Shaffer’s conviction may be affirmed on the lesser-included offense of attempted exploitation of a child is simply wrong. However, I do not join Judge Roberts’s separate opinion.
¶ 53. Indeed, under the language used in Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-5-33(6), an “attempt” is not separate and apart from the criminal conduct but is instead specifically included in the language used in the definition of the criminal conduct. Shaffer’s intended scheme was to entice and solicit Chloe, whom he knew or believed to be a thirteen-year-old girl, to meet him to have sex. Shaffer’s scheme failed only because the true facts were not as he believed them to be. Shaffer’s effort to commit the crime of sexual battery on a thirteen-year-old girl was prevented because he was communicating with an “undercover operative” instead of an actual thirteen-year-old girl. Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-5-33(8) authorizes the use of undercover operatives in the detection and investigation of this crime. Shaffer did not merely attempt to entice or solicit a thirteen-year-old girl to meet him for sexual relations; indeed, he completed the offense. I would affirm the jury’s guilty verdict.
¶ 54. Shaffer was convicted of the crime of exploitation of a child, under Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-5-33(6), which provides:
No person shall, by any means including computer, knowingly entice, induce, persuade, seduce, solicit, advise, coerce, or *1108order a child to meet with the defendant or any other person for the purpose of engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
¶ 55. This statute makes it against Mississippi law to “entice, induce, persuade, seduce, solicit, advise, coerce, or order a child to meet ... for the purpose of engaging in sexually explicit conduct.” I find no Mississippi case that provides a definition of the words “entice,” “induce,” “persuade,” “seduce,” or “solicit.” Blacks Law Dictionary (6th ed.1991) defines the terms as follows:
Entice. To wrongfully solicit, persuade, procure, allure, attract, draw by blandishment, coax or seduce. To lure, induce, tempt, incite or persuade a person to do a thing. Enticement of a child is inviting, persuading or attempting to persuade a child to enter any vehicle, building, room or secluded place with intent to commit an unlawful sexual act upon or with the person of said child.
Induce. To bring on or about, to affect, cause, to influence to an act or course of conduct, lead by persuasion or reasoning, incite by motives, prevail upon.
Persuade. To induce one by argument, entreaty, or expostulation into a determination, decision, conclusion, belief, or the like, to win over by an appeal to one’s reason and feelings, as to doing or believing something, to bring oneself or another to a belief, certainty or conviction; to argue into an opinion or procedure.
Seduce. To induce to surrender chastity. To lead away. Seduction.
Seduction. The act of seducing. Act of man enticing woman to have unlawful intercourse with him by means of persuasion, solicitation, promises, bribes or other means without employment of force.
Solicit. To appeal for something; to apply to for obtaining something, to ask earnestly, to ask for the purpose of receiving, to endeavor to obtain by asking or pleading, ..., to try to obtain,....
(Emphasis added). I will focus on the language “entice” and “solicit” because the definition of these terms clearly incorporate a person’s attempt.
¶ 56. The evidence established that Shaffer believed Chloe was a thirteen-year-old girl. Shaffer lured and groomed her for his future exploitation and sexual favor. He wanted to meet with Chloe to have sex. The question for this Court to decide is whether this statute required that an actual child be at risk in the detection and investigation of this crime. I do not believe it was necessary. We must look at the evidence.
¶ 57. On June 29, 2006, Shaffer was in an Internet chatroom called “Mississippi” operated by Yahoo!. Also, in the same chat room was Deanna Doolittle, a volunteer for the organization Perverted Justice. Doolittle entered the chat room using a profile for a fake identity, “Chloe,” a thirteen-year-old girl who lived in Byram, Mississippi, in Hinds County. Chloe used the screen name “orlandoluvsme2,” listed her age as 113 years old, and displayed the photographic image of a young woman, a teenager. Shaffer argues that Perverted Justice is “a private organization whose purpose is to use subterfuge and fake identities to catch men looking on the internet for minors with whom to meet for sex.” Indeed, that is what they found in Shaffer.
¶ 58. Doolittle testified that, after Chloe exited the chat room, she received a private message from “cowboy39461.” Doolittle responded to the private message using the profile name “orlandoluvsme2.” The two chatted using Yahoo! Messenger that evening. During the chat, cow-boy39461 asked orlandoluvsme2 to call him on his cell phone. At that point, another *1109Perverted Justice volunteer, Kimberly Price, spoke briefly with cowboy39461 on the telephone. Price testified that her job was to be a verifier, which required that she obtain the name of the person calling and verify that this person was the same person chatting with orlandoluvsme2 on the Internet. In the telephone conversation, cowboy39461 confirmed that his name was “Justin,” which he had disclosed in the Internet chat. Price represented that she was Chloe, with whom cowboy39461 had chatted.
¶ 59. After the short telephone conversation, Chloe and Justin resumed their Internet chat using Yahoo! Messenger. Later in that chat, cowboy39461 disclosed the he lived in Neely, Mississippi, in Greene County. During their chat, orlan-doluvsme2 e-mailed pictures of herself to cowboy39461. Over several days of Internet chatting, orlandoluvsme2 and cow-boy39461 discussed the possibility of a meeting. The chat contained some sexually explicit statements by cowboy39461. Cowboy39461 also revealed that his last name was “Shafer” and that he lived at “5908 Neely Avera Rd, Neely[, M]s 39461.” Chloe and Justin also had a few telephone conversations.
¶ 60. On July 7, 2006, orlandoluvsme2 and cowboy39461 chatted again. This chat session also contained sexually explicit conversation. The chat carried over to July 8, as orlandoluvsme2 and cow-boy39461 arranged to meet the next day. In a subsequent chat, orlandoluvsme2 and cowboy39461 arranged a telephone call to discuss their meeting.
¶ 61. The chat room transcripts evidence that cowboy39461 believed orlando-luvsme2 was a child. Further, the transcripts also reveal that cowboy39461 was making an effort to convince orlando-luvsme2 that: she could trust him; he loved her; and they should engage in sexual relations. There is nothing in the transcripts that would have lead cowboy39461 or Justin to believe they were having an online or telephone conversation with an adult.
¶ 62. Indeed, I quote at length and in detail from the transcript to show that Shaffer used the chat room to “entice” (i.e., “attempting to persuade”) and “solicit” (i.e., “to ask for the purpose of receiving, to endeavor to obtain by asking or pleading, ..., to try to obtain”). The following are selected portions of the chat between Shaffer (cowboy39461) and Chloe (orlandoluvsme2), who Shaffer believed to be a thirteen-year-old girl.
cowboy39461 gee I sure wish you were a bit older
orlandoluvsme2 how come?
cowboy39461 or I new your mom well
orlandoluvsme2 y lol?
cowboy39461 I’d come get ya
orlandoluvsme2 come get me huh?
cowboy39461 yeah
[[Image here]]
cowboy39461 just dosen’t feel like I’m talking to a 13 yr old
orlandoluvsme2 aww ty i think
cowboy39461 you are so cool and easy to talk to
orlandoluvsme2 lol
orlandoluvsme2 ya u r to
cowboy39461 ty
orlandoluvsme2 yvw
cowboy39461 you are so sweet
orlandoluvsme2 aww ty
cowboy39461 don’t laugh at me when I tell ya this but I keep wishing I was younger or you a bit older
cowboy39461 lol
orlandoluvsme2 how come?
cowboy39461 I guess I enjoy talking to you so much
*1110orlandoluvsme2 ya ur fun to talk to to
orlandoluvsme2 lol
cowboy39461 you are easy to talk to and I feel relaxed
orlandoluvsme2 kewl
cowboy39461 if things were different, then we might could hang out sometimes
cowboy39461 you know
orlandoluvsme2 difrent?
orlandoluvsme2 *diffrent?
cowboy39461 yeah
orlandoluvsme2 lol
cowboy39461 different
orlandoluvsme2 like wat?
cowboy39461 you know what I mean
cowboy39461 if you were older and I younger
[[Image here]]
cowboy39461 you think you are sad, I am the one that is sad
orlandoluvsme2 how come?
orlandoluvsme2 don’t b sad
orlandoluvsme2 wat r u sad bout?
cowboy39461 I find the sweetest girl I’ve ever met and she is 13
orlandoluvsme2 awwww u r sooo sweet!
cowboy39461 wouldn’t you be sad if you were me
orlandoluvsme2 i don’t get y u r sad tho
orlandoluvsme2 i thot u said u liked talkin to me
cowboy39461 I wish I could take ya out and go do stuff but I can’t
[[Image here]]
cowboy39461 so ya do any thinking about when we should get together
orlandoluvsme2 well u said we wuld eat n walk around mebbe go shoppin
[[Image here]]
cowboy39461 ya want me to get a room in Jackson
orlandoluvsme2 u said u were gonna
[[Image here]]
cowboy39461 I want ya to spend the night with me if ya want
cowboy39461 the hotel
orlandoluvsme2 k
[[Image here]]
cowboy39461 you must like me lots you want to spend the night with me don’t ya?
orlandoluvsme2 yah
cowboy39461 you mean to tell me you’re not just a bit scared or nervous about that
orlandoluvsme2 lol
[[Image here]]
cowboy39461 I want to be with you
cowboy39461 what do you want
orlandoluvsme2 omg do u wanna teach me omg!
cowboy39461 yes
orlandoluvsme2 k
eowboy39461 do you want me to
orlandoluvsme2 ya i relly like u
orlandoluvsme2 wat kinda stuff u wanna teach me?
cowboy39461 then say it, “Justin I want you to teach me”
cowboy39461 do you want to learn everything there is
cowboy39461 I want to more like show you
orlandoluvsme2 justin i want u to teach me
cowboy39461 show you how good I can make you feel
cowboy39461 oh and ya have to say, “Justin, I want to be your girl and only your’s”
orlandoluvsme2 justin I want to be ur girl and only yours
*1111orlandoluvsme2 wat feels best tho?
cowboy39461 what feels best is knowing you want me and are mine
orlandoluvsme2 k
cowboyB9461 so ya want to be my girl Chloe?
orlandoluvsme2 yah
cowboy39461:D
orlandoluvsme2 lol so tell me wat ur gonna teach me cuz im curios
cowboy39461 I am a very happy guy
cowboy39461 how good it feels for me to touch you all over
cowboy39461 massage you
cowboy39461 make your feel very relaxed
cowboy39461 how good it feels for me to go down on you
orlandoluvsme2 down on me?'
eowboy39461 yeah down on you
cowboy39461 lick,
orlandoluvsme2 OH i kno now
orlandoluvsme2 sorry i told u i don’t kno lots of stuff
cowboy39461 are you a cop, police, or work for the policy in any why or fation?
orlandoluv’sme2 huh?
cowboy39461 lol
cowboy39461 yes or no
orlandoluvsme2 u think im a cop
orlandoluvsme2 NO
cowboy39461 lol
cowboy39461 just checking
orlandoluvsme2 jeez
cowboy39461 can ya blame me
cowboy39461 oral sex
orlandoluvsme2 yah i get it now
cowboy39461 me between your sexy soft legs with me tounge
cowboy39461 you can’t tell me you haven’t thought about a gu doing that
cowboy39461 do ya like to be kissed Chloe?
orlandoluvsme2 ya I have been n ya i like it
cowboy39461 I’m a very very good kisser Chloe
cowboy39461 and I nice, kind, giving lover too
orlandoluvsme2 awww i got buterflies
cowboy39461 just think if we where in the room and you on the bed on your back
orlandoluvsme2 k
cowboy39461 having me spred your legs appart and working on that little kitty of your’s
cowboy39461 would ya like that
orlandoluvsme2 yah taht sounds nice
cowboy39461 believe me, you’ll think it’s better then nice
cowboy39461 do you think you can handle me inside you?
orlandoluvsme2 I dunno i think so
orlandoluvsme2 don’t it hurt?
cowboy39461 not if i’m gentle with you
cowboy39461 do ya want to try
orlandoluvsme2 k good
cowboy39461 I will have to take my time though
orlandoluvsme2 yah as long as it don’t hurt 2 bad
cowboy39461 I’m a little thick and long
orlandoluvsme2 relly?
cowboy39461 yeah
cowboy39461 is that ok
orlandoluvsme2 yah its ok
cowboy39461 you sure
orlandoluvsme2 yah im sure
orlandoluvsme2 just b gentl
*1112cowboy39461 you must have been thinking and wanting this for some time huh buy didn’t have anyone ya felt ya could trust huh
orlandoluvsme2 mebbe
cowboy39461 you can trust me baby
[[Image here]]
cowboy39461 you think you could ever love me
orlandoluvsme2 yah prolly can
cowboy39461 lol
cowboy39461 or have love for me lets say
orlandoluvsme2 i’ve nevah been in love
cowboy39461 well it just comes
cowboy39461 you might not ever “be” in love with me but ya might love being with me
orlandoluvsme2 yah i bet u just get a fellin huh?
cowboy39461 tell me if I have this right ok
orlandoluvsme2 k
cowboy39461 what you are looking for is a guy to be nice to you, make you feel safe, make you laugh, go have fund with, and most of all, teach you everything about sex and make ya realy, realy enjoy it a lot
cowboy39461 I guy that you can have with and not worry about telling on you or getting you into trouble right
orlandoluvsme2 well yah i don’t wanna get in trubble
orlandoluvsme2 I don’t like bein grounded
cowboy39461 I guy that can make you cum over and over
cowboy39461 or talked about at schooll
orlandoluvsme2 rite i don’t want him tellin no body
orlandoluvsme2 ur not conna tell no one rite?
cowboy39461 then I am your man
cowboy39461 who would li tell
orlandoluvsme2 kewl
cowboy39461 do you know the trouble I can get in if I get caught haveing sex with you?
orlandoluvsme2 not relly
orlandoluvsme2 i kno u cant get grounded tho
orlandoluvsme2 lol
cowboy39461 lol
cowboy39461 I wish that was it
cowboy39461 like I’d do to jail
cowboy39461 prison
orlandoluvsme2 omg!
cowboy39461 locked up and thrown away
orlandoluvsme2 well im not gonna tell neone
orlandoluvsme2 k
cowboy39461 now ya see why I ask what I ask you and have to be sure and careful
cowboy39461 and that’s why i had to ask if you were a cop orlandoluvsme2 oic kk i get it now
orlandoluvsme2 duh im sorry
cowboy39461 I have everything to loose baby bing with you so that should tell you something and tell you how much I like you if I am willing to risk my life for you right
orlandoluvsme2 yah u kno i like u 2 rite?
orlandoluvsme2 lots and lots
cowboy39461 yep
orlandoluvsme2 good
orlandoluvsme2 brb gotta p
orlandoluvsme2 k back
orlandoluvsme2 u still there
cowboy39461 yes baby
*1113orlandoluvsme2 k good
cowboy39461 so now ya understand why I have to be careful too right
orlandoluvsme2 yah i do more now
cowboy39461 I’m taking all the risk here babe
cowboy39461 so if we both are cool and do things right, there won’t be any problem
orlandoluvsme2 im not gonna tell neone
orlandoluvsme2 and ur not
orlandoluvsme2 so wats the prob
cowboy39461 you can’t even tell your best friend because they’ll tell someone ya know
cowboy39461 everyone talks remember that
orlandoluvsme2 its none of there b’ness
cowboy39461 it would be like you leading a double life in a way
cowboy39461 cool
cowboy39461 that’s my girl
orlandoluvsme2 yah its kewl
cowboy39461 you are ready to have some fun and some really, really great sex aren’t you ?
orlandoluvsme2 yah it sounds kewl
orlandoluvsme2 doncha think?
cowboy39461 loll
cowboy39461 yep
orlandoluvsme2 so r u comin 2morow tehn?
cowboy39461 but we need to work on how you discribe your feelings and such
cowboy39461 yep I am
orlandoluvsme2 k
cowboy39461 may be toward the late afternoon but I will
[[Image here]]
cowboy39461 this is a test for you
cowboy39461 so open up a bit
orlandoluvsme2 I don’t like tests i do horibel on em
orlandoluvsme2 lol
cowboy39461 you do what to turn me on as much as I want to turn you on right
cowboy39461 then I need you to go into a bit of detail for me please
cowboy39461 it’ll help you when we do
orlandoluvsme2 k lemme think bout wat to say so i don’t look stoopid
cowboy39461 and very detailed and graffic
cowboy39461 lol
cowboy39461 paleeeeeees
cowboy39461 lol
cowboy39461 I did it for you right
cowboy39461 so ...
orlandoluvsme2 i kno
orlandoluvsme2 i just don’t kno wat 2 say cuz I’ve nevar done this
orlandoluvsme2 n i feel stoopid
orlandoluvsme2 cuz i don’t kno
orlandoluvsme2 i don’t like feelin stoopid
orlandoluvsme2 I mean i wanna kno how it feels n wat its like
cowboy39461 listen, by you doing this for me it’ll show me for real you are you and not a cop and I must know ok. its my life and I’m not asking too much of you am I? you won’t sound stupid
orlandoluvsme2 how do i kno wat 2 say w out knoing wat im doin
cowboy39461 lol
cowboy39461 right you want me to lick you
cowboy39461 finger you right
cowboy39461 get you wet right
*1114cowboy39461 play with you tits right
cowboy39461 get you really turned on right
orlandoluvsme2 yah
cowboy39461 well just let your mind go and type it out
orlandoluvsme2 k i want u to lick me down there n touch my privates
cowboy39461 I hope you will moan and grown with great pleasure when I am making you feel good
cowboy39461 lol
orlandoluvsme2 n play w my bewbs
cowboy39461 now you are going to have to do better than that
cowboy39461 lol
orlandoluvsme2 n show me how to make u happy
cowboy39461 boobs, tits, pussy, fuck me
cowboy39461 lol
cowboy39461 thouse words
cowboy39461 just say it please baby
orlandoluvsme2 k i want u to lick my pussy n my tits n fuck me like u said
orlandoluvsme2 that was weird typing it out
orlandoluvsme2 lol
cowboy39461 you did great
orlandoluvsme2 now ur not gonna talk
orlandoluvsme2 do u kno how hard taht was for me?
cowboy39461 and don’t ya like now that ya can say what ya want
cowboy39461 aww baby
cowboy39461 you did great
orlandoluvsme2 u don’t like me now?
cowboy39461 but did it turn you on a bit
cowboy39461 I love you
orlandoluvsme2 u love me?
orlandoluvsme2 awwww
orlandoluvsme2 i think i love u 2
cowboy39461 do you love me a little
cowboy39461 aww
cowboy39461 I know I love you you are the sweetest and you are my girl [sic]
¶ 63. On July 8, 2006, Chloe and Justin had a series of telephone calls in which they discussed their meeting later in the day. During these conversations another Perverted Justice volunteer, Tricia Boots-ma, pretended to be Chloe. The conversations were also sexually explicit. Shaffer arrived at the location where Chloe and Justin arranged to meet at approximately 6:00 p.m., on July 8, 2006, where he was met by officers with the Hinds County Sheriffs Department and arrested.
¶ 64. Shaffer claims that his motion for a directed verdict should have been granted because the State failed to prove an essential element of the crime charged— there was no actual child involved in Shaffer’s conduct. A “[c]hild” is defined as “any individual who has not attained the age of eighteen (18) years.” Miss.Code Ann. § 97-5-31(a) (Rev.2006). Shaffer argues that even though he thought he was communicating with “Chloe,” a thirteen-year-old girl, in reality, he was communicating with Doolittle, a twenty-nine-year-old woman. Shaffer’s trial attorney made this same argument before the circuit court during his motion for a directed verdict. The prosecutor responded to the motion by citing section 97-5-33(8). At the time Shaffer was indicted, 97-5-33(8) provided:
The fact that an undercover operative or law enforcement officer was involved in the detection and investigation of an offense under this section shall not constitute a defense to a prosecution under this section.
*1115¶ 65. The State argues that under this statutory language Shaffer’s conduct constituted the crime of exploitation of a child even though Shaffer did not communicate with an actual minor child. The State argues that Doolittle was an undercover operative involved in the detection and investigation of the offense; thus, it is no defense that Shaffer’s contact was with Doolittle instead of a minor.
¶ 66. “It is well settled that when a court considers a statute passed by the Legislature, the first question before the Court is whether the statute is ambiguous. If the statute is not ambiguous, the court should interpret and apply the statute according to its plain meaning without the aid of principles of statutory construction.” Finn v. State, 978 So.2d 1270, 1272 (¶ 8) (Miss.2008) (quoting Harrison County Sch. Dist. v. Long Beach Sch. Dist., 700 So.2d 286, 288-89 (¶ 10) (Miss.1997)).
¶ 67. Under the statute, an act against an “actual child” would certainly be a criminal offense. Subsections six and eight must be read together. Otherwise, law enforcement could only detect and investigate this crime by using actual children as undercover operatives. Certainly, this was not the intention of the Legislature.
¶ 68. In State v. Coonrod, 652 N.W.2d 715 (Minn.App.2002), the Minnesota Court of Appeals considered the appeal of a defendant who had used a computer to solicit sex from a person he thought was a fourteen-year-old girl, but she was actually an adult police officer. The court addressed the use of “actual” children in sting operations, stating:
“Jaimel4” was not a corporation or other legal entity. But like those entities, she was not a flesh-and-blood human being either. [Paula] Coonrod points to no language in the statute, or in the case law, that excludes a fictional persona such as “Jaimel4” from the definition of a “person,” or a “specific person.” This court cannot supply language that the legislature has purposefully omitted or overlooked. The courts will not infer that the legislature intended an absurd result. A few examples will illustrate the point. “Sting,” or “undercover,” or “decoy” operations are not uncommon. When a drug dealer has drugs to sell and is “sucked” into an undercover operation, the second he hands over the drugs to an undercover agent in exchange for money, the badge and handcuffs come out, and two things will happen: (a) he will not get to keep the money, and (b) he will not be able to argue that he can be guilty at most of mere possession rather than possession with the intent to sell, or a completed sale, because he had no chance to execute a bona fide sale. Exactly the same is true with undercover operations aimed at arresting prostitutes or their “johns.” Law enforcement would be in a high state of consternation if real prostitutes and real johns had to be used and if the possibility of a full successful completion of the transaction had to be present! Coonrod’s argument, followed to its logical extreme, would demand that the [S]tate, when investigating the type of crime he is charged with, employ actual young girls to type the chat room text, to meet with the suspect, and to follow through with everything needed to get the suspect to the point of an overt act. We simply will not read that into the law.
Id. at 723 (internal citations and footnote omitted).
¶ 69. I conclude that section 97-5-33 is unambiguous. The plain language of subsection eight provides that it is no defense that an undercover operative was involved in the detection of the offense. Shaffer frames his argument to suggest that the *1116elements of the crime were not proven because no actual child under the age of eighteen was involved. But, there was no child involved because of the involvement of an undercover operative from Perverted Justice, a practice which is allowed by statute.
¶ 70. An “attempt” is included in the definition of the language of Mississippi Code Annotated section.97-5-33(6). It is unnecessary and legally incorrect for the majority to conclude that Shaffer’s conviction may be affirmed on the lesser-included offense of attempted exploitation of a child.
¶ 71. The evidence presented to the jury was sufficient to convict Shaffer under Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-5-33(6). Shaffer’s intended scheme was to entice or solicit a thirteen-year-old girl, whom he knew as Chloe, to meet him to engage in sexual relations. Shaffer failed only because the true facts were not as he believed them to be. Shaffer did not merely attempt to entice or solicit a thirteen-year-old girl to meet him for sexual relations; indeed, he completed the offense.
¶ 72. With great respect to my colleagues, I would affirm the jury’s verdict and conviction of Shaffer.
LEE AND MYERS, P.JJ., JOIN THIS OPINION. IRVING, J., JOINS THIS OPINION IN PART.