Sexton v. Persson

341 P.3d 881, 268 Or. App. 63, 2014 Ore. App. LEXIS 1807
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedDecember 31, 2014
Docket11C11800; A151067
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 341 P.3d 881 (Sexton v. Persson) 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
Sexton v. Persson, 341 P.3d 881, 268 Or. App. 63, 2014 Ore. App. LEXIS 1807 (Or. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

SERCOMBE, P. J.

Petitioner killed his parents in 1998 when he was 17 years old. Based on a guilty plea, he was convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to consecutive life sentences with mandatory minimum prison terms of 25 years. In 2011, he filed a successive petition for post-conviction relief under ORS 138.510 and ORS 138.550,1 asserting that his sentence for murder was “unconstitutionally disproportionate to the penalty for the greater-included offense of aggravated murder under Article I, section 16 [,] of the Oregon Constitution.”2 Ultimately, the post-conviction court denied his petition and dismissed the case with prejudice. Petitioner appeals, contending that his “late and successive petition” was appropriate because the grounds for relief asserted therein “were precluded by controlling Oregon Supreme Court statutory interpretation until that court overruled itself months prior to the filing of the successive petition [.]” Furthermore, assuming that the petition was properly filed, petitioner argues that the “sentence for intentional murder under ORS 163.115(l)(a) (1997) [is unconstitutionally] disproportionate [65]*65to a sentence for aggravated murder under ORS 163.105 (1997) [.]”3 We conclude that the sentences imposed on the two murder convictions are not unconstitutionally disproportionate under Article I, section 16, and affirm the post-conviction court’s judgment on that basis.

As noted, in the underlying criminal case, petitioner was convicted of two counts of murder. In his plea petition, he acknowledged that the maximum imprisonment for each count of murder was life with a 25-year-minimum and, at sentencing, the trial court imposed consecutive life sentences with minimum terms of imprisonment of 25 years. See ORS 163.115(5) (1997); ORS 137.707(4) (1997); see also State v. Haynes, 168 Or App 565, 7 P3d 623, rev den, 331 Or 283 (2000) (discussing ameliorative amendment to ORS 163.115 to provide for parole after completion of minimum term of imprisonment). The trial court’s judgment was affirmed on direct appeal. State v. Sexton, 169 Or App 306, 9 P3d 157, rev den, 331 Or 244 (2000). Petitioner then sought post-conviction relief. The post-conviction court’s denial of relief was affirmed on appeal. See Sexton v. Lawhead, 201 Or App 299, 120 P3d 29, rev den, 339 Or 475 (2005).

Then, in 2011, petitioner again sought post-conviction relief. In his petition, he asserted that his petition was properly filed under ORS 138.510(3) and ORS 138.550(3) because it asserted grounds for relief that could not reasonably have been raised on direct appeal or in his earlier petition for post-conviction relief. He further contended that his sentence was unconstitutionally disproportionate because,

“[u]nder the penalty scheme for murder, a defendant, such as Petitioner, who was sentenced simultaneously to two or more consecutive 25-year minimum sentences for the crime of murder committed in 1998 must serve the entire aggregate sum of the consecutive minimum terms (50+ years) before being eligible for parole or release on post-prison supervision.”

[66]*66However, based on the Oregon Supreme Court’s decisions in Severy/Wilson v. Board of Parole, 349 Or 461, 245 P3d 119 (2010), and Janowski/Fleming v. Board of Parole, 349 Or 432, 245 P3d 1270 (2010), he asserted that,

“[u]nder the penalty scheme for aggravated murder, a defendant who was sentenced simultaneously to two or more consecutive 30-year minimum sentences for the crime of aggravated murder committed in 1998 is entitled to parole eligibility and the elimination of all minimum sentences after no more than 25 years.”

The state4 moved for summary judgment, arguing that the petition did not raise a cognizable post-conviction claim and that it was barred as successive and untimely. Petitioner responded by filing a cross-motion for summary judgment asserting that the otherwise untimely and successive petition was proper under ORS 138.510(3) and ORS 138.550(3) because it raised grounds that could not reasonably have been raised in the original petition. Further, he asserted that proportionality mandated that he be subject to only a 25-year-minimum prison term, rather than the two consecutive 25-year-minimum terms to which he had been sentenced. The state replied that defendant’s sentence was not unconstitutionally disproportionate given, among other things, the nature of his crime and the penalties available for aggravated murder.

In a letter opinion, the post-conviction court agreed with the state:

“Petitioner admits his petition is beyond the statute of limitations and successive. Petitioner advances that his claims fit within the escape clauses ofORS 138.510(3) and/or 138.550(3) (ground for relief asserted could not reasonably have been raised in the original or amended petition). The essence of Petitioner’s claim is that the sentence he received on Murder charges (ORS 163.115) for the double-murder of his parents is unconstitutionally disproportionate to a sentence now available were Petitioner to be sentenced on the charges of Aggravated Murder (ORS 163.095). A key aspect of Petitioner’s argument is the consecutive nature of the [67]*67sentences imposed on him for offenses committed when he was 17 years of age. The result of which is that Petitioner is not eligible for release for fifty years. Petitioner alleges that if he had been convicted of the greater offenses of Aggravated Murder, he would be eligible for a release hearing before the Board of Parole after completing only twenty years.
“It is the assertion now of a right not generally recognized to be in existence at the time of trial that Petitioner wants this court to use as a basis for another shot at post-conviction relief. The problem with Petitioner’s analysis lies in the cases cited Severy/Wilson *** and Janowski/ Fleming * * *. Petitioner’s cases are inapposite.

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Related

State v. Link
441 P.3d 664 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2019)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
341 P.3d 881, 268 Or. App. 63, 2014 Ore. App. LEXIS 1807, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sexton-v-persson-orctapp-2014.