| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to use of electronic surveillance |
| 3 | equipment; creating s. 775.08451, F.S.; defining the term |
| 4 | "electronic surveillance equipment"; prohibiting use of |
| 5 | electronic surveillance equipment for specified purposes |
| 6 | in connection with the commission of a criminal offense; |
| 7 | prohibiting specified actions concerning information |
| 8 | received through the use of electronic surveillance |
| 9 | equipment; providing penalties; providing for |
| 10 | reclassification of offenses when electronic surveillance |
| 11 | equipment is used in connection with them; amending s. |
| 12 | 921.0022, F.S.; conforming provisions; providing an |
| 13 | effective date. |
| 14 |
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| 15 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 16 |
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| 17 | Section 1. Section 775.08451, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 18 | to read: |
| 19 | 775.08451 Use of electronic surveillance equipment while |
| 20 | committing certain offenses.-- |
| 21 | (1) For the purposes of this section, the term "electronic |
| 22 | surveillance equipment" means any mechanical, digital, or |
| 23 | electronic viewing device; still camera; camcorder; motion |
| 24 | picture camera; or any other instrument, equipment, or format |
| 25 | capable of recording, storing, or transmitting visual images of |
| 26 | another person. |
| 27 | (2) A person shall not: |
| 28 | (a) Use any form of electronic surveillance equipment to |
| 29 | assist in committing a crime or to escape from or avoid |
| 30 | detection, arrest, trial, conviction, or punishment in |
| 31 | connection with the commission of such crime. |
| 32 | (b)1. Divulge the existence, contents, substance, purport, |
| 33 | effect, or meaning of any information received through the use |
| 34 | of electronic surveillance equipment to any person he or she |
| 35 | knows to be a suspect in the commission of a crime with the |
| 36 | intent that the suspect may escape from or avoid detention, |
| 37 | arrest, trial, conviction, or punishment. |
| 38 | 2. Any person who violates subparagraph 1. commits a |
| 39 | misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. |
| 40 | 775.082 or s. 775.083. |
| 41 | (3) The felony or misdemeanor degree of any criminal |
| 42 | offense underlying a violation of paragraph (2)(a) shall be |
| 43 | reclassified to the next higher degree as follows: |
| 44 | (a) A misdemeanor of the second degree shall be punished |
| 45 | as if it were a misdemeanor of the first degree. |
| 46 | (b) A misdemeanor of the first degree shall be punished as |
| 47 | if it were a felony of the third degree. |
| 48 | (c) A felony of the third degree shall be punished as if |
| 49 | it were a felony of the second degree. |
| 50 | (d) A felony of the second degree shall be punished as if |
| 51 | it were a felony of the first degree. |
| 52 | (e) A felony of the first degree shall be punished as if |
| 53 | it were a life felony. |
| 54 |
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| 55 | For purposes of sentencing under chapter 921, a felony offense |
| 56 | that is reclassified under this subsection is ranked one level |
| 57 | above the ranking under s. 921.0022 or s. 921.0023 of the |
| 58 | offense committed. |
| 59 | Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 921.0022, Florida |
| 60 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 61 | 921.0022 Criminal Punishment Code; offense severity |
| 62 | ranking chart.-- |
| 63 | (2) The offense severity ranking chart has 10 offense |
| 64 | levels, ranked from least severe, which are level 1 offenses, to |
| 65 | most severe, which are level 10 offenses, and each felony |
| 66 | offense is assigned to a level according to the severity of the |
| 67 | offense. For purposes of determining which felony offenses are |
| 68 | specifically listed in the offense severity ranking chart and |
| 69 | which severity level has been assigned to each of these |
| 70 | offenses, the numerical statutory references in the left column |
| 71 | of the chart and the felony degree designations in the middle |
| 72 | column of the chart are controlling; the language in the right |
| 73 | column of the chart is provided solely for descriptive purposes. |
| 74 | Reclassification of the degree of the felony through the |
| 75 | application of s. 775.0845, s. 775.08451, s. 775.0861, s. |
| 76 | 775.087, s. 775.0875, s. 794.023, or any other law that provides |
| 77 | an enhanced penalty for a felony offense, to any offense listed |
| 78 | in the offense severity ranking chart in this section shall not |
| 79 | cause the offense to become unlisted and is not subject to the |
| 80 | provisions of s. 921.0023. |
| 81 | Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2008. |