Oregon Appellate Court, September 15, 2021
by: Rankin Johnson • September 17, 2021 • no comments
Summarized by Rankin Johnson, OCDLA
EVIDENCE - Reputation for truthfulness
Testimony about a police officer's mixed reputation for truthfulness was admissible. Reversed.
The court held, as a matter of first impression, that "split reputation" evidence is admissible as reputation evidence.
The witness with a split reputation testified as a DRE, ant the court found the error was harmful as to two of defendant's three convictions.
State v. Anderson 314 Or App 495 (September 15, 2021) (Egan) (Lane County, Cascagnette)
CONTEMPT - Willfulness
Defendant's good-faith belief that a no-contact provision had been lifted would his conviction for contempt. Reversed and remanded.
The court rejected the state's and trial court's theory that, upon learning that the victim sought to have the no-contact order lifted, defendant was obligated to verify before concluding that it had, in fact, been lifted. The case was remanded for a new hearing.
State v. Simmons 314 Or App 507 (September 15, 2021) (DeVore) (Marion County, Burton)
POST-CONVICTION RELIEF - Statute-of-limitations escape clause
Trial court erred by granting summary judgment on statute-of-limitations grounds. Reversed and remanded.
Petitioner hired post-conviction counsel, but counsel failed timely to file a post-conviction petition. Because counsel's efforts are not information readily available to the petitioner, the statute of limitations was tolled until petitioner learned that the petition had not been filed.
Bean v. Cain 314 Or App 529 (September 15, 2021) (Lagesen) (Malheur County, Hung)
JOINDER, SEVERANCE, AND ELECTION - Concurrence instructions
Any error in failing to order election or give concurrence instruction as to two close-in-time acts of driving was harmless. Affirmed.
State v. Burnett 314 Or App 550 (September 15, 2021) (James) (Clackamas County, Van Rysselberghe)
JOINDER, SEVERANCE, AND ELECTION - Substantial prejudice
Defendant was not substantially prejudiced by joint trial of sex offenses based on two unrelated incidents with different victims. Affirmed.
The court reasoned that the jury could easily separate the two incidents because they were unrelated.
State v. Delaney 314 Or App 561 (September 15, 2021) (Mooney) (Clackamas County, Wetzel)
TRIAL PROCEDURE - Amended judgments
Signed, unentered judgment imposing probation and suspending financial obligations was valid, and there was no basis to impose subsequent judgment which did not suspend financial obligations. Reversed.
The initial judgment was imposed while defendant was on probation. Probation ended before the second judgment was entered, and, thus, the court's jurisdiction over defendant had ended.
State v. Larson 314 Or App 576 (September 15, 2021) (Mooney) (Umatilla County, Hill)
EVIDENCE - Chain of custody
Trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that the state's chain-of-custody showing was sufficient to admit the evidence. Affirmed.
The Court of Appeals observed that "more could have been established as to the handling of the evidence," but the trial court held that the chain of custody could be addressed through cross-examination.
State v. Straub 314 Or App 630 (September 15, 2021) (Per curiam) (Umatilla County, Hill)
TRIAL PROCEDURE - Closing argument
Trial court erred in ruling that defense counsel's argument concerned facts not in evidence. Reversed.
State v. Sanders 314 Or App 633 (September 15, 2021) (Per curiam) (Curry County, Margolis)
