In a new use of the relatively new Improper Photography penal law, we recently arrested a guy for using his cell phone camera to take pictures under the skirts of waitresses in a bar. Not all of them were completely clothed underneath. How is that for a state jail felony?

As I understand it, that's exactly the intended use of the statute....how did that guy get caught?

A waitress saw one of the photos. The defendant bragged about catching someone without any drawers. The waitress said, You can't do that. Defendant said, I can do anything I want. She grabbed his phone and called the police. We got a search warrant for the phone (just to be careful) and found the photos on the phone.

Query: how do you secure the evidence? We are e-mailing the photos to ourselves from the phone.

Apparently, defendant has previously been asked to leave bars for bothering waitresses by looking up their skirts.

Will technological "advances" never cease?

And can you believe that the defendant isn't all that original in his perverse behavior? There's a name for what he's doing -- it's called "upskirting." I learned that at an Online Child Porn seminar. You really have to watch out for this at places like Six Flags where you stand in line for long periods of time in close proximity to other people.

Just try typing "upskirt" into Google!

Don't you remember the Beatles' "Happiness is a Warm Gun"? --

"The man in the crowd with multicoloured mirrors on his hobnailed boots"

Apparently taken from a 1968 newspaper story of a man arrested for "upskirting" at soccer matches.

Once again, the TDCAA user forum is ahead of the curve ...

Article on Williamson Co. case

All the good reporters now get their stories from the TDCAA web site. Tail wagging the dog?

Will this charge/conviction be classified as a sex crime and require registration?

I don't believe it was included in the list of offenses triggering sex offender registration. That will give the Leg something to do next time. Of course, a judge could require a defendant to register as a condition of supervision.

Speaking of offenses triggering registration, I just did a plea on an individual who was charged with improper sexual contact with a person in custody. That is also not on the list. I have not looked at the issue in a while, but I remember there being some cases out there limiting a judge's ability to impose sex offender conditions for cases that were not spelled out in the statute. (Speth?) Has anyone been able to successfully include a registration provision on an offense that wasn't on the list? If the judge just tacks it on to a plea does that create a voluntariness issue?