United
States v. Ferguson, 68 M.J. 431 (in this case,
appellant pled guilty to
indecent exposure, and he admitted that his acts of masturbating
himself before
a webcam in his room while transmitting the live images to an
undercover police
officer he thought was a 14-year-old boy were performed intentionally,
purposefully, and in public view - in a manner that could be observed
by
members of the public, the undercover officer, and others; by doing so,
he
relinquished his right to contest the prosecution’s theory on appeal
that he
ejaculated in public view, unless the record disclosed matter
inconsistent with
the plea, and it did not disclose any such inconsistent matter; under
the
circumstances, the military judge was not required to further
investigate
appellant’s concession that his conduct was undertaken in public view,
and the
military judge did not abuse his discretion in accepting appellant’s
guilty
plea; there was no substantial basis in law or fact to question
appellant’s
plea to indecent exposure).
United
States v. Graham, 56 MJ 266 (in order for an
indecent
exposure conviction to be legally sufficient, the evidence must show
the
exposure was, among other things, "willful," "indecent,"
and in "public view." - exposing oneself while in one’s own house can
constitute the offense of
indecent exposure, as long as it is willful).
(there are two distinct types of indecent exposure: (1) exposure in
a public
place, the very fact of which tends to prove it was willful, and (2)
exposure
that does not occur in a public place but which, instead, occurs in a
nonpublic
place such as one’s privately-owned home; the mere fact of this second
type of
exposure does not prove it was willful, but it may still constitute the
offense
of indecent exposure if other evidence proves that it was).
(appellant exposed himself in the bedroom of his home – clearly a
nonpublic
place; but he did so willfully by inviting his babysitter into the
bedroom and
then allowing his towel to drop in front of her; in this way, he made
certain
that an unsuspecting and uninterested member of the general population
had no
choice but to see him naked; that is indecent exposure).
(the focus of indecent exposure is on the victim, not on the
location of the
crime - the offense is committed regardless of whether it takes place
in the
bedroom or on the street; the purpose of criminalizing public indecency
is to
protect the public from shocking and embarrassing displays of sexual
activities; a person need not be in a public place to be a member of
the
public).
("public place" means a location that is public; and, consistent
with a focus on the victims and not the location of public indecency
crimes,
"public view" means "in the view of the public," and in
that context, "public" is a noun referring to any member of the
public who views the indecent exposure).
1999