Oregon Appellate Court, December 4, 2019

by: Rankin Johnson • December 6, 2019 • no comments

Summarized by Rankin Johnson, OCDLA

EVIDENCE - Relevance and unfair prejudice

Trial court did not err by failing to redact Intoxilyzer report showing defendant's BAC to be .066, notwithstanding evidence that the test established his BAC to be .06. Affirmed.

The court observed that the jury heard, in both evidence and argument, that the BAC was .06. It also held that any error was harmless.

State v. Dodge 301 Or App 1 (December 4, 2019) (Egan) (Multnomah County, McShane)

STALKING AND PROTECTIVE ORDERS - Sufficiency

Respondent's contacts with petitioner, a police chief, which occurred in public and he filmed and in which he made vague complaints about the police and media but made no express threats and engaged in no threatening behavior, did not support issuance of a stalking order. Reversed.

Respondent regularly filmed police officers and posted criticism about police online. He was on probation and a term of his probation limited his contact with the personal residences of public officials. Petitioner was briefed on him when she became chief of police.

D.O. v. Richey 301 Or App 18 (December 4, 2019) (DeVore) (Multnomah County, Nelson)

RESTITUTION - Reasonable and necessary charges

Trial court erred by imposing restitution award for vehicle that was greater than its Blue Book value and in the absence of evidence that the repair cost was reasonable. Reversed and remanded.

The court was unimpressed by the state's argument that it should adopt a relaxed standard of proof for restitution hearings.

State v. Aguirre-Rodriguez 301 Or App 42 (December 4, 2019) (Lagesen) (Marion County, Caso)

RESTITUTION - Reasonable and necessary charges

Trial court erred by imposing restitution award for counseling the absence of evidence that the cost was reasonable. Reversed and remanded.

Insurance paid the counseling bills at contract rates, but that was not sufficient to show that the rates were reasonable in the market.

State v. Hilburn 301 Or App 48 (December 4, 2019) (Lagesen) (Marion County, Hart)

EVIDENCE - Vouching and delayed reporting

Detective's testimony that the victim delayed reporting out of fear of the defendant was inadmissible vouching. Reversed and remanded.

State v. Brand 301 Or App 59 (December 4, 2019) (DeHoog) (Multnomah County, Wittmayer)

XXX ARGUMENT - Counsel's opinions and plain error

Trial court did not plainly err by failing to declare mistrial during closing argument, when the prosecutor expressed a personal opinion about witnesses' credibility. Affirmed.