Bartz v. State of Oregon

839 P.2d 217, 314 Or. 353, 1992 Ore. LEXIS 177
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 1, 1992
DocketDeschutes County CC 90-CV-0091-TM; CA A67398; SC S38915; Marion County CC 90-C-11681; CA A67827; SC S39107
StatusPublished
Cited by82 cases

This text of 839 P.2d 217 (Bartz v. State of Oregon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bartz v. State of Oregon, 839 P.2d 217, 314 Or. 353, 1992 Ore. LEXIS 177 (Or. 1992).

Opinion

*355 GRABER, J.

These cases 1 present questions concerning the meaning and constitutionality of ORS 138.510(2), aprovision of the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (PCHA), ORS 138.510 to 138.680. As amended in 1989, ORS 138.510(2) imposes a 120-day period of limitation on the filing of petitions for post-conviction relief. It also provides an exception:

“(2) A petition pursuant to [the PCHA] must be filed within 120 days of the following, unless the court on hearing a subsequent petition finds grounds for relief asserted which could not reasonably have been raised in the original or amended petition:
“(a) If no appeal is taken, the date the judgment or order on the conviction was entered in the register.
“(b) If an appeal is taken, the date the appeal is final in the Oregon appellate courts.”

Each of the petitioners filed a petition for post-conviction relief more than 120 days after his judgment of conviction was entered in the register. Neither petitioner filed an appeal. Petitioners’ convictions became final after the 1989 amendment to ORS 138.510(2) took effect. Therefore, the 120-day time limit applies. See Boone v. Wright, 314 Or 135, 836 P2d 727 (1992) (1989 amendment to ORS 138.510 (2) does not apply to petitions filed by persons whose convictions became final before the effective date of the amendment). In each of these cases, the defendant filed a motion to dismiss the petition as untimely under ORS 138.510(2), and in each case the post-conviction court dismissed the petition.

Petitioners appealed. Petitioner Bartz contended that he falls within the exception described in ORS 138.510 (2). Alternatively, he contended that the statute is unconstitutional on two grounds: that it suspends the writ of habeas corpus, in violation of Article I, section 23, of the Oregon Constitution, 2 and Article I, section 9, clause 2, of the *356 Constitution of the United States; 3 and that it violates his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process of law. 4 Petitioner Britain argued that ORS 138.510(2) is inconsistent with another provision of the PCHA, ORS 138.530(2). He also challenged the constitutionality of the provision on the ground that it impermissibly suspends the writ of habeas corpus, citing Article I, section 23, of the Oregon Constitution.

The Court of Appeals held that petitioner Bartz was not excused from filing his petition within the 120-day limitation period and that ORS 138.510 is not unconstitutional for the reasons that Bartz advanced. Accordingly, that court affirmed the dismissal of Bartz’s petition for post-conviction relief. Bartz v. State of Oregon, 110 Or App 614, 825 P2d 657 (1992). The Court of Appeals also affirmed the dismissal of petitioner Britain’s petition for post-conviction relief. Britain v. Maass, 111 Or App 438, 825 P2d 657 (1992).

We allowed both post-conviction petitioners’ petitions for review to address the important issues raised and now affirm. Petitioner Bartz’s claim does not fall within the exception to the 120-day limitation period, and ORS 138.510 (2) is consistent with ORS 138.530(2). ORS 138.510(2) neither suspends the writ of habeas corpus nor violates petitioners’ federal due process rights.

THE MEANING OF ORS 138.510(2)

A. The Exception.

Petitioner Bartz pleaded guilty to rape in the third degree, ORS 163.355, and was placed on probation. He did not appeal. Therefore, his conviction became final on the day that the judgment of conviction was entered in the register. One hundred forty-five days later, Bartz filed a petition for post-conviction relief. In it, he asserted that his trial counsel had *357 failed to advise him of a possible statutory defense to the charge and that he did not learn of the defense within 120 days after his conviction became final. Bartz contends that, because his trial counsel failed to advise him of an available statutory defense, he could not reasonably have known of that defense within the 120-day period and that he therefore falls within the exception provided in ORS 138.510(2).

We are called on to interpret this passage in ORS 138.510:

“(2) A petition pursuant to [the PCHA] must be filed within 120 days of the following, unless the court on hearing a subsequent petition finds grounds for relief asserted which could not reasonably have been raised in the original or amended petition[.Y’ (Emphasis added.)

The Court of Appeals majority interpreted the emphasized clause to permit a petitioner to file a late petition whenever the petitioner alleges and proves that the grounds for relief asserted could not reasonably have been raised within 120 days after the petitioner’s conviction became final. Bartz v. State of Oregon, supra, 110 Or App at 617-18. The dissent countered that “the language of [ORS 138.510(2)] makes the availability of any extraordinary relief expressly contingent on the filing of an original timely petition.” Id. at 621 (But-tler, P. J., dissenting) (emphasis in original). We agree with the Court of Appeals majority.

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Bluebook (online)
839 P.2d 217, 314 Or. 353, 1992 Ore. LEXIS 177, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bartz-v-state-of-oregon-or-1992.