Opinion
No. 83627.
January 12, 1995.
Appeal from the Circuit Court, Orange County, Dorothy L. Russell, J.
James B. Gibson, Public Defender, and Brynn Newton, Asst. Public Defender, Seventh Judicial Circuit, Daytona Beach, for petitioner.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Belle B. Turner, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for respondent.
We have for review a district court decision presenting the following question certified to be of great public importance:
WHETHER THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO PRIVACY RENDERS UNCONSTITUTIONAL THOSE PORTIONS OF SECTIONS 800.04 AND 794.041 PROVIDING THAT CONSENT IS NOT A DEFENSE TO A PROSECUTION FOR SEXUAL ACTIVITY WITH A MINOR UNDER THE AGE OF 16.Casado v. State, 634 So.2d 830 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const.
In accordance with our decision in Jones v. State, 640 So.2d 1084 (Fla. 1994), we answer the certified question in the negative and approve the district court's decision upholding the constitutionality of sections 794.041(2)(b) and 800.04, Florida Statutes (1991). We note that the reasoning in Jones, in which we specifically upheld the constitutionality of section 800.04, applies equally to section 794.041.
Section 794.041 was repealed by chapter 93-156, section 4, at 911, Laws of Florida.
GRIMES, C.J., and OVERTON, SHAW, KOGAN, HARDING and ANSTEAD, JJ., concur.