Oregon Appellate Court - July 31, 2013

by: Zara Lukens, Alex Flood and Abassos • July 31, 2013 • no comments

Mere Acquiescence – Consent is Valid if Officer’s Statement Conveys a Choice to the Listener

Consent to enter and search a hotel room is valid so long as an officer’s statement, in ordinary social intercourse, conveys to the listener that she may deny entry. Here, the officer’s statement, “I need to talk to the person that just ran in here,” left the listener with a choice. She could have chosen to leave the officer outside and told the defendant that an officer wanted to talk to him. Instead she stepped aside and motioned to the defendant, choosing to let the officer enter the hotel room. State v. Briggs, 257 Or App __ (July 31, 2013).

Prior Bad Acts – Sex Offenses – Harmless Error

Even assuming that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of defendant’s prior sexual offenses in a rape case, the error was harmless. In his reading of the verdict, the trial court judge made clear that his reasoning was based exclusively on the victim’s account and was not influenced by the prior offenses. State v. Klontz, 257 Or App __ (July 31, 2013).

Past Deliberate Indifference Insufficient to Support Habeas Relief

For habeas relief purposes, a correctional institution is not deliberately indifferent to plaintiff’s serious medical needs where, at the time of adjudication, it has responded to those needs. Past deliberate indifference does not support habeas relief. Woodroffe v. Nooth, 257 Or App __ (July 31, 2013).