In an unusual outcome to a disturbing criminal appeal, California Supreme Court Justice Marvin Baxter wanted the court to review a case on its own motion.
Joseph Lowell Gerber took pictures of his 13-year-old daughter in various states of undress. He used Microsoft Paint to paste pictures of her face onto pornographic images of women he collected from the Internet. Appealing his child pornography conviction, he argued that the altered images didn’t count as child porn.
The Sixth District Court of Appeal agreed, ruling in June that California’s child porn law “requires a real child to have actually engaged in or simulated the sexual conduct depicted.”
The Attorney General’s office didn’t appeal. Apparently, the outcome didn’t sit well with Baxter. On Wednesday, he cast the lone vote to review People v. Gerber, S195160.
Comments