Reid v. Johnson

983 P.2d 1061, 161 Or. App. 92, 1999 Ore. App. LEXIS 1024
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJune 2, 1999
Docket98-01-29487M; CA A102020
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 983 P.2d 1061 (Reid v. Johnson) 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
Reid v. Johnson, 983 P.2d 1061, 161 Or. App. 92, 1999 Ore. App. LEXIS 1024 (Or. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

*94 BREWER, J.

Plaintiff appeals from the dismissal of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus in which he sought immediate release from imprisonment. Defendant is the superintendent of the correctional facility in which plaintiff is incarcerated. The sole issue on appeal is whether defendant is barred by the doctrines of claim preclusion or issue preclusion from denying plaintiff earned time credits by operation of a prior judgment that denied plaintiffs claim for post-conviction relief. We review for errors of law, Curry v. Grill, 125 Or App 507, 509, 866 P2d 1237 (1993), and affirm.

In March 1991, plaintiff pled no contest to a single charge of first-degree rape. ORS 163.375. ORS 137.635, 1 the “Denny Smith” law, was in effect at the time of plaintiffs plea. That statute provides that a defendant, who has been previously convicted of an offense within the same class of crimes designated in the statute, is not eligible on a second conviction within that class of crimes for any reduction in sentence, including earned time credits under ORS 421.121.

Plaintiff was convicted of first-degree robbery before the effective date of ORS 137.635. First-degree robbery and first-degree rape are both crimes subject to ORS 137.635. Nevertheless, it is undisputed that plaintiffs attorney advised him before he pled to the rape charge that he would be eligible for earned time credit up to a 20 percent reduction in his sentence. After plaintiff was sentenced for rape, the Department of Corrections applied ORS 137.635 to his term of imprisonment and denied him the right to earn any reduction in his sentence. In October 1991, plaintiff filed a petition for post-conviction relief. Among other allegations, he *95 asserted that his attorney had failed to provide him with constitutionally adequate representation because he had neglected to advise him that ORS 137.635 applied to his rape sentence.

In May 1992, we held in State v. Haydon, 113 Or App 205, 209, 832 P2d 457 (1992) CHaydon I), that ORS 137.635 applied only to defendants sentenced for felonies committed before the effective date of the sentencing guidelines, November 1, 1989. Because plaintiff committed the rape after November 1, 1989, Haydon I would have exempted his sentence from ORS 137.635. In July 1992, the state petitioned for review of our decision in Haydon I. In August 1992, the post-conviction court entered judgment denying plaintiffs claim for relief. The judgment concluded that plaintiff had not been denied effective assistance of counsel. A separate conclusion in the judgment stated that plaintiffs “eligibility for good time credits on his [rape] sentence is controlled by [.Haydon I ]." Plaintiff did not appeal from that judgment.

In November 1992, we withdrew our decision in Haydon I and, in a reversal of course, concluded that ORS 137.635 applies to sentences for felonies committed on or after November 1, 1989. State v. Haydon, 116 Or App 347, 350, 842 P2d 410 (1992) (Haydon II). Plaintiff filed this habeas corpus action in June 1997, alleging that he was then entitled to release based on earned time credits because the 1992 post-conviction judgment barred defendant from denying those credits. In April 1998, the trial court entered judgment dismissing the habeas corpus writ on defendant’s motion, based on the decision in Haydon II. This appeal ensued.

Plaintiff sought habeas corpus relief based on the theory that his legal right to earned time credit entitles him to prompt judicial scrutiny of his case. He also alleged that he has no other timely remedy. Plaintiffs allegations, if proven, would provide a basis for habeas corpus relief. Penrod/Brown v. Cupp, 283 Or 21, 28, 581 P2d 934 (1978). Defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiffs petition was the functional equivalent of a summary judgment motion. McClintock v. Schiedler, 123 Or App 334, 336, 859 P2d 580 (1993). We review to determine whether there is a genuine *96 issue of material fact and, if not, whether defendant, the moving party, is entitled to prevail as a matter of law. Jones v. General Motors Corp., 325 Or 404, 420, 939 P2d 608 (1997). Because the dispositive facts are undisputed, we turn to the parties’ legal contentions.

Plaintiff relies exclusively on what he contends is the preclusive effect of the 1992 judgment dismissing his post-conviction claim. He cites a venerable body of federal authority holding that claim preclusion, formerly known as res judicata, bars parties from relitigatingissues that were or could have been raised in a previous action that has been concluded by a final judgment on the merits. Plaintiff argues that the post-conviction judgment conclusively determined that ORS 137.635 did not apply to the sentence on his 1991 rape conviction. Plaintiff maintains that the change in controlling law resulting from the decision in Haydon II is inapplicable to his circumstances because the state did not appeal from the post-conviction judgment.

Defendant correctly counters that the Oregon law of preclusion by former adjudication governs this state court habeas corpus proceeding arising under ORS 34.320. 2 Defendant also claims that plaintiff has misidentified the doctrine under which he seeks relief. Although plaintiff purports to rely on claim preclusion, 3 defendant argues that plaintiffs theory is actually based on the related, but distinct, doctrine of issue preclusion.

The doctrine of claim preclusion advances the goal of litigation finality by limiting parties to one final judgment on all claims and defenses properly belonging to the action or defense because they relate to the same factual transaction or series of connected transactions. Drews v. EBI Companies,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
983 P.2d 1061, 161 Or. App. 92, 1999 Ore. App. LEXIS 1024, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reid-v-johnson-orctapp-1999.