## Facts

- A residential fire in Jacksonville, Florida, caused the death of Cindy Fletcher, the minor daughter of homeowner Klenna Ann Fletcher, who was out of town at the time.
- Fire and police officials entered the home to investigate the fire and death.
- During the investigation, a fire marshal and a police sergeant invited news media to accompany them inside the residence to report on the incident.
- A newspaper photographer employed by Florida Publishing Company entered the home peaceably through an open door, without causing damage and without contemporaneous objection from any person present.
- The fire marshal attempted to photograph a “silhouette” marking where the body was found, ran out of film, and asked the photographer to take the photograph.
- The photographer’s image was placed in the official investigative file and was later published in the defendant’s newspaper.
- Fletcher sued the publisher, including a claim for trespass based on the photographer’s entry and conduct inside the home.

## Issues

1. Whether a news photographer who enters a private residence with fire and police officials during an official investigation commits actionable trespass, or instead enters lawfully based on implied consent arising from common custom, usage, and practice.
2. Whether, given the undisputed circumstances of entry, the trespass/consent question could be resolved as a matter of law on summary judgment.

## Decision

- The Florida Supreme Court quashed the district court’s reversal and reinstated summary judgment for the publisher on the trespass count.
- The court held that, under the undisputed facts, the photographer’s entry with investigating officials was lawful and non-actionable by virtue of common custom, usage, and practice.
- Because the material facts were not genuinely disputed, the court treated the existence and effect of implied consent/privilege as a question of law suitable for summary judgment.

## Legal Principles

- Trespass liability may be defeated where implied consent to entry is supplied by a long-established, generally accepted community custom and practice applicable to the circumstances.
- When public officials are lawfully on private premises to conduct an official investigation, customary, peaceable press accompaniment at the officials’ invitation may be treated as within the scope of implied consent, absent independent damage or interference by the media.
- Where the operative facts about entry, invitation, manner of entry, and lack of damage are undisputed, the court may determine the legal effect of consent/privilege on summary judgment rather than submitting the issue to a jury.

## Conclusion

The court held that a photographer’s peaceful entry into a fire scene residence at the invitation of investigating officials, consistent with established local practice, was privileged by implied consent and therefore did not support an actionable trespass claim; summary judgment for the publisher was proper.


Florida Publ'g Co. v. Fletcher, 340 So. 2d 914 (Fla. 1976)