Oregon Appellate Court - 6-13-2012

by: Abassos • June 13, 2012 • no comments

False Information to an Officer - For the Purposes of Arrest

It is not False Information to a Police Officer to give a false name to an officer knowing you have a warrant, if the officer doesn't yet know about the warrant. "That defendant was aware of the warrant and that, based on that awareness, she chose to lie to [the officer], is not sufficient to prove that [the officer] asked for her identification for the purpose of arresting her on the warrant." State v Moresco

An Inventory Policy May Not Allow Search of All Closed Containers

An inventory policy is overbroad when it effectively authorizes inspection of all closed containers. Here, the Marion County Sheriff's General Order authorized inspection of the contents of "all closed containers that could contain valuables." Because valuables can be extremely small, any container "could" contain valuables. Thus, the policy was overbroad because it would allow a search of all closed containers without regard to the objective likelihood of their containing valuables. State v. Cordova

PSRB Findings Must Be Supported by Reason and Evidence

The Psychiatric Security Review Board may not reject a conditional release plan without findings based on reason and evidence. For example, the court may not reject a release to California without providing "any factual or legal bases for its expressed discomfort". Nor may it require a sex offender evaluation based on "the lack of observable psychiatric symptoms observed by victims or police" when almost every victim and every psychological evaluation noted observable psychiatric symptoms at the time of the crime. Knotts v PSRB

A Blasting Cap is a Bomb

A blasting cap is a bomb for the crime of unlawful possession of a destructive device. A blasting cap is a small explosive device designed to detonate a larger explosion. It contains a shunt that must be removed to make the device explosive. The defendant argued that the blasting cap was not a bomb because it was in its commercial packaging and was disabled by the shunt. The Court of Appeals held that it was still a bomb because it could be detonated under certain conditions, such as when the shunt was removed. State v. Johnson

Per Curiams

• A judge may not impose an upward departure if the DA has not given notice per ORS 136.765. State v Calhoun

• Prison plus PPS may not exceed the statutory maximum for the crime. Thus, for example, the court may not impose 2 months prison and 118 months post-prison supervision on a C felony because the maximum sentence for a C felony is 60 months. State v Renner

• First degree rape and second degree sex abuse merge. State v Calhoun