Payless Drug Stores Northwest, Inc. v. Brown

698 P.2d 45, 73 Or. App. 90
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedApril 3, 1985
Docket83-1-1014; CA A30985
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 698 P.2d 45 (Payless Drug Stores Northwest, Inc. v. Brown) 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
Payless Drug Stores Northwest, Inc. v. Brown, 698 P.2d 45, 73 Or. App. 90 (Or. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

NEWMAN, J.

Defendants appeal a judgment against them for penalties of $117.74 plus costs. ORS 30.875(2).1 Plaintiffs security guard arrested Bobbi Brown, defendants’ 15-year-old unemancipated daughter, outside plaintiffs Pendleton store for “shoplifting” five items with a total retail value of $17.74. ORS 164.045. Plaintiff demanded that defendants pay the $100 statutory minimum “civil penalty” plus $17.74, the retail value of the merchandise that Bobbi took from the store. Defendants alleged affirmatively the unconstitutionality of ORS 30.875(2) and counterclaimed for damages under the Unlawful Debt Collection Act. See ORS 646.639. Defendants moved for summary judgment on plaintiffs claim and on their counterclaim and later moved for a directed verdict on plaintiffs claim. The court denied those motions. The court granted plaintiffs motion for a directed verdict on defendants’ counterclaim. The jury then returned a verdict for plaintiff on its claim. We affirm.

Defendants assert that the court erred in denying their motion for summary judgment. They argue that ORS 30.875(2), which imposes vicarious liability on the custodial parents of an unemancipated child, is unconstitutional. We will not, however, review the denial of a motion for summary judgment in an appeal from a judgment entered after trial. Mt. Fir Lumber Company v. Temple Dist. Co., 70 Or App 192, 198, 688 P2d 1378 (1984).

Defendants also assign as error that the court denied their motion for a directed verdict. In support of the motion, defendants’ counsel simply stated:

“Your Honor, we move for a directed verdict in defendants’ favor on plaintiffs case * *

Defendants did not assert any grounds, constitutional or [93]*93otherwise, to support the motion, see ORCP 60, and cannot do so now. Remington v. Landolt, 273 Or 297, 302, 541 P2d 472 (1975). Defendants did not otherwise present the constitutional issue to the court.

As a third assignment of error, defendants claim that the trial court erred in granting plaintiffs motion for a directed verdict on defendant’s counterclaim. Defendants asserted that plaintiffs demand letter violated the Unlawful Debt Collection Act, ORS 646.639. Under ORS 646.639(1), however,

“(a) ‘Consumer’ means a natural person who purchases or acquires property, services or credit for personal, family or household purposes.
“(b) ‘Consumer transaction’ means a transaction between a consumer and a person who sells, leases or provides property, services or credit to consumers. * * * *
“(e) ‘Debt’ means any obligation or alleged obligation arising out of a consumer transaction.”

Whether or not Bobbi shoplifted, there was no evidence from which the jury could find that there was a “consumer transaction” between her and plaintiff. The evidence was undisputed that Bobbi unilaterally took the merchandise from the store. The trial court did not err.

As their fourth assignment of error, defendants claim that the trial judge erred when he told the jury before voir dire:

“[T]he plaintiff is asking to recover from defendant some statutory relief, by way of a penalty, for permitting their daughter to shoplift from one of their stores * * *. As I have indicated this is a case in which Payless Drug Stores is attempting to recover some statutory penalties and costs from the defendants who are parents of a youngster who was shoplifting in their store.”

Defendants assert that the response of Mrs. Zielke, the first juror that defendants’ questioned on voir dire, shows that the court’s comments were prejudical:

“[Defendant’s counsel]: Do you still believe that you could still make a fair determination based upon what you have heard so far?
“Verla J. Zielke: Not what I have heard so far.”

[94]*94Plaintiffs counsel, however, questioned Mrs. Zielke further:

“Q. Mrs. Zielke, and actually as far as the rest of the jury is concerned: Obviously, part of the evidence in this case will have to do with an incident that occurred at Payless, and as the Plaintiffs attorney, we bear a burden of proof with regard to the fact that Bobbie [sic] Brown did take items from the store without paying for them. No evidence has been presented on that yet. I don’t know what evidence they will present. I do know the evidence that I will put on, because I’ve talked to the witnesses in advance of the trial here. But will you have any difficulty in listening to the evidence and weighing the credibility of the witnesses and deciding after you have heard the facts in this case, then, which party is entitled to a verdict in this case?
“A. No, I’ll [inaudible]
“Q. Have you made up your mind now?
“A. No.
“Q. All right. Well, I think, I think counsel may have misunderstood you.”

Defendants’ counsel then inquired:

“Q. I inquired whether you had made up your mind whether there had in fact been shoplifting in this case.
“A. Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t understand it from that way.
“Q. Do you think there has been shoplifting in this case?
“A. I don’t know, because — I don’t know yet.
“Q. OK. That’s fair. Ok, I misunderstood you, then. Excuse me.”

The juror’s answers do not show that she had already decided that Bobbi had shoplifted. The court’s comments were harmless.

Defendants’ fifth, sixth and seventh assignments of error relate to the admission, over defendants’ objection on hearsay grounds, of testimony of plaintiffs security guard, Houts, about statements that Bobbi made to him immediately after the incident to the effect that she had been in the store and that she had taken items of merchandise without paying or intending to pay for them. Houts read from a report in which he had recorded those statements. The report, also over defendants’ objection, was admitted in evidence. We agree [95]*95with defendants that the court erred when it admitted that testimony and the report.

We will not, however, reverse for evidentiary error unless a substantial right of a party has been affected. OEC 103. Without objection, Houts testified on direct examination:

“Q. [By plaintiffs counsel]: All right. I want to go back again to why you were on the catwalk inside the store, Mr. Houts.

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Bluebook (online)
698 P.2d 45, 73 Or. App. 90, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/payless-drug-stores-northwest-inc-v-brown-orctapp-1985.