Oregon Appellate Court, November 3, 2021

by: Rankin Johnson • November 5, 2021 • no comments

Summarized by Rankin Johnson, OCDLA

FALSE INFORMATION TO A PEACE OFFICER - Authority to issue citation
Importance: 2/5

A police officer must have lawful authority to issue citation for defendant to be charged with False Information to a Peace Officer. Reversed.

One officer involved was a Tri-Met fare officer, which lacks authority to issue citations, and the other officer did not personally observe conduct warranting a citation and thus lacked authority to cite defendant.

Mooney, dissenting, would have interpreted the relevant statutes to encompass a false statement made in connection with issuance of a citation, not reaching the issue of whether the officer could lawfully issue a citation.

State v. Dickey 315 Or App 501 (November 3, 2021) (DeHoog, Mooney dissenting) (Multnomah County, Lavin)

MERGER - Defense counsel's obligation
Importance: 3/5

Trial counsel was ineffective in failing to seek merger of two counts of witness tampering, based on the same acts but different theories. Reversed.

The court rejected the state's argument that the analysis was so onerous that counsel might reasonably have chosen not to bother. The court also noted that having too many convictions on one's criminal record is always harmful.

Kurtz v. Cain 315 Or App 518 (November 3, 2021) (DeHoog) (Malheur County, Penn)

SEARCH AND SEIZURE - Probable cause
Importance: 3/5

Using pliers to work on the inside of the door of a car known to be stolen constituted probable cause for possession of a stolen vehicle. Affirmed.

State v. McCall 315 Or App 538 (November 3, 2021) (Mooney) (Multnomah County, Souede)