Dugger v. Schiedler

27 P.3d 498, 174 Or. App. 585, 2001 Ore. App. LEXIS 837
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJune 20, 2001
DocketCV000151; A111348
StatusPublished

This text of 27 P.3d 498 (Dugger v. Schiedler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dugger v. Schiedler, 27 P.3d 498, 174 Or. App. 585, 2001 Ore. App. LEXIS 837 (Or. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

BREWER, J.

Plaintiff appeals from a judgment dismissing his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. ORS 34.680(1). He argues that his imprisonment for two felony convictions was unlawfully extended when the Department of Corrections (DOC) refused to apply earned-time credits to his sentences. Defendant responds that, under ORS 137.707 (1995), plaintiff was not eligible for earned-time credits and, therefore, plaintiff was properly imprisoned for the entire length of his incarcerative sentences. We review the record in the light most favorable to plaintiff and for errors of law. Fort v. Palmateer, 169 Or App 568, 570, 10 P3d 291 (2000). We reverse and remand.

In 1996; plaintiff was convicted of second-degree kidnapping, ORS 163.225, and second-degree robbery, ORS 164.405. Both crimes were Measure ll1 offenses, and each involved the use of a firearm. At the time the offenses were committed, plaintiff was 17 years old. Therefore, he was prosecuted under ORS 137.707, the Measure 11 statute authorizing the prosecution of certain 15-, 16-, and 17-year-old offenders as adults. At sentencing, the court held Measure 11 unconstitutional and refused to impose the minimum 70-month prison sentences required for plaintiffs convictions by ORS 137.707(4)(a)(i) and (r). Instead, the court sentenced plaintiff to a 60-month gun minimum term of imprisonment on the kidnapping conviction, ORS 161.610,2 and to a concurrent probationary sentence under the sentencing guidelines on the robbery conviction. On appeal, we affirmed plaintiffs [588]*588convictions without opinion. State v. Dugger, 148 Or App 635, 939 P2d 678, rev den 326 Or 58 (1997). The state did not cross-appeal from the sentencing court’s ruling on the constitutionality of Measure 11 or from the sentences imposed.

After plaintiffs prison sentence was executed, DOC determined, based on ORS 137.707(2),3 that plaintiff was ineligible for earned-time credits. As a result, DOC set plaintiffs release date for February 25, 2001. According to plaintiff, the proper application of earned-time credits entitled him to release on February 15,2000 — almost one year earlier than the date determined by DOC.4 Defendant responds that the sentencing court did not intend to invalidate Measure 11 in its entirety and, specifically, that it did not intend to invalidate the prohibition of early release contained in ORS 137.707(2). Therefore, defendant concludes, DOC “correctly * * * determined that plaintiff is ineligible for earned-time credits under ORS 421.121 because such credits are barred by ORS 137.707(2).”

The parties agree that the sentencing court’s ruling that Measure 11 was unconstitutional is not consistent with subsequent case law. See, e.g., State ex rel Huddleston v. Sawyer, 324 Or 597, 932 P2d 1145, cert den 522 US 994 (1997); State v. Lawler, 144 Or App 456, 927 P2d 99 (1996), rev den 326 Or 390 (1998). However, the state did not appeal [589]*589from that ruling, and defendant does not contend that DOC was free to ignore it in executing plaintiffs sentence. Thus the decisive issue, as framed by the unusual circumstances of this case, is whether the sentencing court invalidated only a portion of Measure ll’s sentencing scheme with respect to plaintiffs sentences.

Defendant argues that the court did not intend to invalidate Measure 11 in its entirety because it did not return the case to juvenile court — where it would have been prosecuted but for Measure 11 — but, instead, sentenced plaintiff as an adult. Defendant contends that we should infer from that omission that the court meant to declare unconstitutional only the minimum prison term provisions of ORS 137.707. Defendant’s argument also assumes that Measure 11 consists of three separate components: (1) a scheme for juveniles accused of committing any of the subject offenses, ORS 137.707; (2) mandatory minimum sentences for all offenders convicted of those offenses, ORS 137.700(2), ORS 137.707(2) and (4); and (3) ineligibility for any form of early release, including earned-time credits under ORS 421.121, of any adult or juvenile offender convicted of a subject crime, ORS 137.700(1), ORS 137.707(2). According to defendant, the sentencing court declared unconstitutional only the mandatory minimum prison term component of Measure 11, leaving the “no sentence reduction” component intact. See ORS 174.040 (directing that if any part of a statute is held unconstitutional, the remaining parts shall generally remain in force). For the following reasons, we disagree.

First, we can only speculate about why the sentencing court did not return plaintiff to juvenile court for disposition or waiver to adult court after concluding that Measure 11 was unconstitutional. There is no suggestion in the record that either party raised the issue or that the court even considered it. We cannot infer that the trial court intended to invalidate only part of Measure 11 when it is also plausible that the court merely overlooked returning the case to juvenile court.5

[590]*590Second, even assuming that Measure 11 contains severable components, there is no basis in the record to infer that the sentencing court intended to invalidate only a portion of its sentencing scheme. In fact, the opposite is true. In explaining its decision, the court stated:

“It is my belief and my legal opinion that the sentencing scheme,

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Related

State v. Lawler
927 P.2d 99 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1996)
State Ex Rel. Huddleston v. Sawyer
932 P.2d 1145 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1997)
Baty v. Slater
984 P.2d 342 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1999)
Fort v. PALMATTER
10 P.3d 291 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2000)
Sawyer v. Oregon ex rel. Huddleston
522 U.S. 994 (Supreme Court, 1997)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
27 P.3d 498, 174 Or. App. 585, 2001 Ore. App. LEXIS 837, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dugger-v-schiedler-orctapp-2001.