The very short version of the DCS-PCS merger argument

This wikilog article is a draft, it was not published yet.

by: Ryan Scott • December 13, 2019 • no comments

For decades, the Court of Appeals has held that guilty verdicts for DCS and PCS don't merge into a single conviction. That holding is now in doubt, in light of an Oregon Supreme Court decision from 2018. The full and complete (and admittedly complicated) analysis is at the Dec 10, 2018 post: "Do DCS and PCS now merge?" It's a lot to read.

Because time is short, here's the shortest version I could write.

The Court of Appeals says that DCS and PCS don't merge because:

(1) You can attempt a crime merely by soliciting the crime.

(2) Therefore, you can commit a Boyd delivery with a mere solicitation to commit a delivery.

(3) A solicitation to commit delivery does not require possession.

(4) Therefore a delivery does not require possession.

(5) If delivery does not require possession, then the two crimes do not merge into a single conviction.

In 2018, the Oregon Supreme Court said (1) is wrong. Because (2)-(5) depend on (1), the argument now fails.

Go to the Dec 10, 2018, blog post for the full argument, with all the necessary citations/authority.