City of Salem v. Bruner

702 P.2d 70, 299 Or. 262
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedJune 18, 1985
DocketTC 139,465; CA A28085; SC S30627
StatusPublished
Cited by44 cases

This text of 702 P.2d 70 (City of Salem v. Bruner) 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
City of Salem v. Bruner, 702 P.2d 70, 299 Or. 262 (Or. 1985).

Opinions

[264]*264ROBERTS, J.

Defendant seeks review of the Court of Appeals dismissal of his appeal to that court. The Court of Appeals dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, citing ORS 221.360, set forth in note 3. Defendant petitioned for review to this court, raising the claim that his inability to appeal to the Court of Appeals, except on the constitutionality of the city charter or ordinance, denied him equal privileges and immunities under Article 1, section 20, of the Oregon Constitution.

THE FACTS

Defendant was arrested for driving under the influence of intoxicants by a City of Salem police officer. He was charged with a violation of the Salem Revised Code Section 100.330(a)(2) and cited into Salem Municipal Court.

The citation stated that the offense occurred in Polk County but the arrest was made after the officer followed defendant across the bridge into downtown Salem, located in Marion County. Although the major part of Salem is situated in Marion County, a part of Salem is situated on the west side of the Willamette River in Polk County.

Prior to trial in municipal court, defendant moved to have the litigation transferred to Polk County District Court. The motion was denied.1 Defendant waived jury trial and filed a motion to suppress evidence. That motion also was denied. Trial was had on stipulated facts and defendant was found guilty. Defendant then appealed to Marion County Circuit Court and had a trial de novo. Defendant repeated his motion to suppress evidence, and the motion again was denied. He again waived a jury trial and again was found guilty.

Defendant then appealed to the Court of Appeals on evidentiary grounds, asserting that his motion to suppress should have been allowed. The City of Salem moved for dismissal based on ORS 221.360 and City of Klamath Falls v. Winters, 289 Or 757, 619 P2d 217 (1980), which upheld the dual appellate scheme provided in ORS 221.360. The Court of Appeals allowed the motion for dismissal.

[265]*265THE STATUTES

In the City of Salem, a state, county or city police officer having probable cause to believe a person has committed a major traffic offense may cite the alleged offender for a violation of state statute or of the city ordinance which incorporates these state laws. See Salem Revised Code 100.330.2 The officer also has the choice to cite the person into municipal court or district court. A person cited to district court for violations of either a city ordinance or a state law may appeal to the Court of Appeals on any legal issue. ORS 46.250. Likewise, a person cited to municipal court for violating a state statute may seek removal from municipal court to the district court, ORS 484.030(2), 153.565, 51.050(2), Henderson v. Smith, 282 Or 109, 577 P2d 504 (1978), and from there appeal to the Court of Appeals on any legal issue. In contrast, a person cited to the municipal court for a city ordinance violation can seek de novo review to the circuit court, ORS 221.350, 221.390, and appeal to the Court of Appeals only on the constitutionality of an ordinance or charter provision, ORS 221.360.3

[266]*266This statute, in part, provides: “Where the right of appeal in such cases depends upon there being involved an issue as to the constitutionality of the charter provision or ordinance, the decision of the appellate court shall be upon such constitutional issue only.” In City of Salem v. Polanski, 202 Or 504, 509-10, 276 P2d 407 (1954), we interpreted this statute to disallow appeals beyond the circuit court except as expressly provided in the statute. We held that only cases involving the constitutional issues specified came within the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals. In City of Klamath Falls v. Winters, supra, we declined to read ORS 221.350 and 221.360 as grants of appellate jurisdiction; rather, we held that they were restrictions on that jurisdiction. The effect of these statutes as interpreted is to preclude the right to plenary appeal in cases such as the present.

THE CONSTITUTIONAL CLAIM

Defendant contends that these statutes, by restricting him to a limited rather than a full appeal, violate the equal privileges and immunities clause of Article I, section 20, of the Oregon Constitution.4 The essence of defendant’s claim is that he was denied a privilege available to similarly situated defendants because a person cited for the same conduct to municipal court under a state statute or to a district court [267]*267under either a city ordinance or state statute would ultimately be able to appeal to the Court of Appeals on any legal issue while defendant, who was cited for a city ordinance violation to a municipal court, could only appeal to the Court of Appeals on the constitutionality of the underlying city ordinance or charter provision. The fault defendant finds with the dual appeal procedures lies in the “unbridled discretion” of police officers to determine the appeal route by checking one of two boxes on the uniform citation form charging a violation of city ordinance or state statute and by filling in a blank fixing the court in which the original trial is to be held. The box checked and the court designated set the scope and availability of appeal.

Defendant argues that State v. Freeland, 295 Or 367, 667 P2d 509 (1983), requires that the citing officer’s discretion must rest on meaningful criteria consistently applied to similarly situated defendants. Defendant is correct.

The state as amicus defends the dual appellate scheme on three grounds. It first argues that there is no disparity in appellate opportunities because municipal court defendants may seek habeas corpus review, a form of review which the state contends is “comparable to, if not substantially the same as, the appellate rights of a district court defendant.” Second, the state asserts that plenary appellate review confers no particular “privilege” on defendants. If no “privilege” is identified then no “privilege” is denied and Article I, section 20, is inapplicable. Third, the state contends that defendant has failed to prove that discretion was exercised in a standardless manner. The state asserts that each law enforcement agency may have standards upon which to make citing decisions. In any case, defendant has not demonstrated the contrary.

We disagree with the state’s first suggestion that habeas corpus review is comparable to direct appellate review.

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Bluebook (online)
702 P.2d 70, 299 Or. 262, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-salem-v-bruner-or-1985.