SEAN TAYLOR JURY OUT

Update: The jury will be sent home today at 4pm to allow those that are parents of children to do some trick or treating. Jury deliberations will resume Friday at 9am. The jury today watched the videotaped statement of the defendant that is the center of the defense in this case. 

The jury in the case of Eric Rivera, accused of shooting Sean Taylor, started deliberations Wednesday afternoon. The jury went home around 7pm and will resume deliberations around 9 AM today. As soon as we hear about a verdict, we will try and post it. 

Sexual Intercourse defined: 
The life of an appellate judge can sometimes be boring. Deciding whether summary judgement was appropriate in a mortgage foreclosure case, or reviewing the award of attorneys fees, can quickly become routine and boring. 
And then there is the case of State v. Debaun, wherein judges Shepherd, Wells and Lagoa found themselves confronted with whether the term "sexual intercourse" as used in 384.24 includes activity beyond the penetration of a female sexual organ with the male genitalia. 384.24 makes it unlawful for an individual who is HIV positive and knows it to have sexual intercourse with another individual without first informing them of their status. Judge Miller, the trial court Judge in Monroe County, relying on the decision in LAP v State, 62 So.3d 683 (Fla. 2nd DCA 2011), dismissed the charges in Debaun because the sexual activity was between two men and LAP defined sexual intercourse as sexual contact between male and female genitalia. 

But Masters and Johnson  Shepherd, Wells and Lagoa, in a fairly detailed discussion of both statutory construction and sexual conduct/activity/positions etc., found that, at least in Miami and the Keys for now, sexual intercourse is all that jelly and a whole bunch of jam. In other words, for the purposes of the statute, if two people can think of it, the statute covers their conduct:


In short, because the purpose of Chapter 384 is to prevent the spread of sexually transmissible diseases,
many of which are transmitted by sexual contact other than vaginal penetration by a penis, it makes no sense to interpret the only act prohibited—sexual intercourse—as including only penetration of the vagina by the penis. Such a result would be absurd.

Well, don't we all feel better now that the issue has been settled? 

We will post an update when there is a verdict. 

WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR
The rallying cry of all baseball teams except your world champion Boston Redsox. As the last Cardinal struck out in the top of the ninth last night, the 2014 baseball season was beginning. Like new  flowers, the melt of the icy snowcap, spring unearths the hope of baseball fans everywhere. This morning, with the 2013 baseball season over, fans were looking at lineups, arguing about whether that rookie flamethrower in the minors was ready, and even long suffering Cub fans like Judge Milt Hirsch were taking comfort in the fact that today, the promise of "next year" was one day closer. 

See you in court.