Oregon Appellate Court, April 17, 2019

by: Rankin Johnson • April 25, 2019 • no comments

Summarized by Rankin Johnson, OCDLA

EQUIPMENT VIOLATIONS - Motor-vehicle equipment exemptions for farm equipment

Defendant's flatbed trailer was not a "farm trailer," exempt from light requirements, because it was drawn by a pickup truck rather than a "farm tractor."

State v. Walker 297 Or App 78 (April 17, 2019) (DeVore) (Coos County, Burgett)

EVIDENCE - Evidence relevant to motive

Evidence that the murder victim had become reserved and unhappy when the defendant moved in with her was relevant. Affirmed.

Defendant was convicted of killing his mother, with whom he lived, based on circumstantial evidence. Defendant objected to evidence of the change in the victim's demeanor after he moved in with her. In rejecting that argument, the Court of Appeals observed that hostility between the defendant and the victim could give rise to a motive for murder. The court declined to consider as unpreserved some related arguments, and found that the admission of some similar evidence was harmless.

State v. Reineke 297 Or App 84 (April 17, 2019) (Lagesen) (Washington County, Bailey)

CIVIL COMMITMENT - Sufficiency of the evidence

Respondent's erratic, violent, and self-harming behavior while confined in a mental hospital did not prove that she would be a danger to herself or others when released. Reversed.

State v. S.E.R. 297 Or App 121 (April 17, 2019) (Lagesen) (Lane County, Love)

MEASURE 11 - Juveniles and cruel and unusual punishment

Life sentence imposed on juvenile upon conviction aggravated murder without consideration of the juvenile's age was cruel and unusual. Reversed and remanded.

Tookey, dissenting, would have held that a life sentence with the possibility of parole in 30 years was not cruel and unusual when imposed on a juvenile sentenced as an adult.

State v. Link 297 Or App 126 (April 17, 2019) (James, Tookey dissenting) (Deschutes County, Brady)