State v. Aldrich

732 P.2d 943, 83 Or. App. 643
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedFebruary 11, 1987
Docket10-85-01927; CA A37536
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 732 P.2d 943 (State v. Aldrich) 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
State v. Aldrich, 732 P.2d 943, 83 Or. App. 643 (Or. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

NEWMAN, J.

Defendant appeals his convictions for felony driving while revoked (DWR), former ORS 487.560 (now ORS 811.175), possession of a controlled substance, ORS 475.992(4)(b), and ex-convict in possession of a firearm. ORS 166.270.1 We affirm in part and reverse in part.

Defendant’s first assignment is that the court erred when it admitted the Motor Vehicles Division revocation order and refused to dismiss the DWR charge on its own motion. In these particular respects, the court did not err. At the close of the state’s case, however, defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal on the ground that the notice and order of revocation were defective under State v. Tooley, 297 Or 602, 687 P2d 1068 (1984). The court denied his motion. Defendant renewed his motion at the close of his case and, at the court’s suggestion, at the close of the state’s rebuttal. Although defendant did not assign as error that the court failed to grant his motion, his assignment encompasses the basis of his motion for judgment of acquittal. Accordingly, we reach the merits of his argument.

MVD received notification that defendant had been convicted in July, 1977, of felony hit and run. Former ORS 483.990(4). On June 1, 1978, it sent him a notice, dated May 30, 1978, by certified mail which stated that, pursuant to former ORS 486.211(3)(e), former ORS 482.440, and former ORS 482.430(l)(e), defendant’s license would be revoked for “hit and run, personal injury” for an indefinite period of time beginning June 4,1978. Defendant received the notice on June 2,1978.

Defendant argues that, because the notice that MVD sent stated that the revocation of his license would be effective five days from its date, it was defective under State v. Tooley, supra, and so the subsequent revocation of his license could not support the charge of driving while revoked. The state responds that defendant’s license was revoked pursuant to former ORS 482.430(1) (e) and that Tooley is inapplicable. We reverse the DWR conviction.

[646]*646 In Tooley, the court construed former ORS 486.221, which applied only when MVD “suspends or revokes [a] license ** * * for any reason set forth in ORS 486.211 or 486.251.” A driver’s failure to stop and disclose his identity at the scene of an accident resulting in the death of or injury to another person was a ground for revocation of the driver’s license under both former ORS 486.211(3)(e) and former ORS 482.430(1)(e).2 In State v. Jones, 76 Or App 157, 161 n 4, 708 P2d 1168 (1985), we stated:

“[In State v. Tooley, supra,] MVD revoked Tooley’s license for felony driving while suspended, pursuant to ORS 486.221 and 482.430. Although ORS 482.430 does not require a hearing, the court held that Tooley was entitled to one. The implication of that holding is that, because the reason for the revocation was a ‘reason set forth in ORS 486.211,’ Tooley was entitled to a hearing under ORS 486.221, even though MVD had revoked pursuant to both ORS 486.211 and 482.430. In sum, ORS 486.221 applies not only to suspensions and revocations under ORS 486.211 and 486.251, but also to those under other statutes where the reason is one set forth in either 486.211 or 486.251.” (Emphasis in original.)

The notice that MVD mailed to defendant was defective under Tooley. The subsequent revocation of defendant’s license cannot support the DWR charge.

[647]*647Defendant’s second assignment is that the court erred when it admitted the record of his hit and run conviction to prove that he had previously been convicted of a felony, an element of the charge of ex-convict in possession of a weapon. The court did not err in admitting the exhibit, but defendant also moved for judgment of acquittal on the ground that the evidence showed that defendant had only been convicted of a misdemeanor. Although he does not assign the court’s denial of his motion as error, his assignment encompasses the basis for his motion, and so we reach the merits of his argument.

Defendant relies on ORS 166.270(3)(a), which provides:

“For the purposes of [the ex-convict in possession of a weapon statute], a person ‘has been convicted of a felony’ if, at the time of conviction for an offense, that offense was a felony under the law of the jurisdiction in which it was committed. Provided, however, that such conviction shall not be deemed a conviction of a felony if:
“(a) At the time of conviction, and pursuant to the law of the jurisdiction in which the offense occurred, the offense was made a misdemeanor by the type or manner of sentence actually imposed.”

He argues that, because the court imposed a “misdemeanor sentence,” a maximum of one year in the county jail, he was not convicted of a felony for purposes of ORS 166.270.

In 1977,3 ORS 161.525, which defines felony, provided:

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Related

State v. Swain
718 A.2d 1 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1998)
State v. Aldrich
757 P.2d 440 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1988)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
732 P.2d 943, 83 Or. App. 643, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-aldrich-orctapp-1987.