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Oregon Court of Appeals 06-16-10

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by: Abassos • June 15, 2010 • no comments

Read the full article for details about the following new cases:

  • Venue - Vehicle
  • Right to Counsel - Restitution Hearing
  • Tampering with a Witness - Official Proceeding


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Venue - Vehicle===

When an offense is committed in a vehicle and the exact location cannot be easily determined, venue is appropriate in any county through which the vehicle travels. ORS 131.315(5). Here sex abuse was alleged to have occurred in a car which travelled through Marion County. Thus, Marion County was an appropriate venue for prosecution. State v. Duff

Right to Counsel - Restitution Hearing

A defendant has the right to counsel at a restitution hearing. Which means that if a defendant wants to proceed without an attorney, the court must make sure the defendant understands his right to counsel, including appointed counsel. Here, defendant had a private attorney through sentencing but became unemployed during the case and asked his attorney not to go to the restitution hearing. The judge made sure he wanted to proceed without his attorney but didn't tell defendant about his right to appointed counsel if he qualified. Reversed for a new restitution hearing. State v. Phillips

Tampering with a Witness - Official Proceeding

To prove tampering, the State must prove that the defendant believed that the witness may testify in an official proceeding. It doesn't matter whether there was actually a pending case or a scheduled proceeding. In this case:

defendant was worried about the witness's "upcoming meeting with the D.A. that was assigned to the case" in advance of a grand jury proceeding, and that defendant attempted to induce the witness to provide the district attorney with a false version of events.

State v. Mathis, Per Curiam based on State v. Bailey.