Oregon Appellate Court, November 4, 2020

by: Rankin Johnson • November 11, 2020 • no comments

Summarized by Rankin Johnson, OCDLA

DEFENDANT'S TESTIMONY - Trial court's discretion

Trial court abused discretion by precluding defendant from testifying about second incident following direct and cross-examination about first incident. Reversed.

The court explained that counsel's oversight was not an adequate reason to deny defendant the right to testify.

State v. Pierce 307 Or App 429 (November 4, 2020) (Tookey) (Marion County, James)

ARSON - Sufficiency

Evidence was sufficient to prove defendant intentionally destroyed house. Affirmed.

Experts testified that an accidental explosion was unlikely, and there was evidence that defendant needed the insurance money.

State v. McNall 307 Or App 435 (November 4, 2020) (Kamins) (Jackson County, Orr)

TRIAL PROCEDURE - Closing argument

Court should have granted mistrial over prosecutor's reference in rebuttal to excluded hearsay statement about the reason for a stop.

Police suspected defendant of drug offenses following report by civilian. In closing, defense counsel accused the officers of assumptions about defendant, and the prosecutor argued in rebuttal that the officers had relied on the report.

State v. Morehead 307 Or App 442 (November 4, 2020) (Hadlock) (Washington County, Sims)