State v. Arellano-Sanchez

481 P.3d 349, 309 Or. App. 72
Court of Appeals of Oregon·Decided February 3, 2021·No. A165375·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinion

Argued and submitted April 25, 2019; convictions on Counts 1 and 6 reversed and remanded, remanded for resentencing, otherwise affirmed February 3, 2021

STATE OF OREGON, Plaintiff-Respondent,

v.

JOSE RAFAEL ARELLANO-SANCHEZ, Defendant-Appellant.

Washington County Circuit Court 16CR70262; A165375

481 P3d 349

Defendant appeals from a judgment of conviction for one count each of first-degree robbery, ORS 164.415 (Count 1); second-degree assault, ORS 163.175 (Count 2); fourth-degree assault, ORS 163.160 (Count 3); unlawful use of a weapon, ORS 166.220 (Count 6); menacing, ORS 163.190 (Count 7); first- degree burglary, ORS 164.255 (Count 8); attempted first-degree arson, ORS 164.325 (Count 10); and second-degree criminal mischief, ORS 164.354 (Count 11). Raising four assignment of error, defendant first asserts that the trial court erred in denying his motion to exclude gang-related evidence. The state concedes defendant’s second assignment in which he contends that the trial court erred in reconstituting defendant’s criminal history score. In defendant’s combined third and fourth assignments of error, he contends that the trial court erred in failing to provide a jury concurrence instruction on Counts 2 and 3. Defendant also raises three supplemental assignments of error challenging nonunanimous verdicts for Counts 1 and 6 under State v. Flores Ramos, 367 Or 292, 334, 478 P3d 515 (2020). The state concedes that error. Held: Defendant’s first assignment of error was rejected without discussion and the Court of Appeals accepted the state’s concession to the second assignment of error. Regarding defendant’s third and fourth assignments of error, under State v. Teagues, 281 Or App 182, 383 P3d 320 (2016), concurrence instructions are necessitated when single incidents give rise to separate and distinct injuries, but not when a single incident results in a “cluster of injuries,” as occurred here.

Convictions on Counts 1 and 6 reversed and remanded; remanded for resentencing ; otherwise affirmed.

Janelle F. Wipper, Judge. Zachary Lovett Mazer, Deputy Public Defender, argued the cause for appellant. Also on the briefs was Ernest G. Lannet, Chief Defender, Criminal Appellate Section, Office of Public Defense Services.

Doug M. Petrina, Assistant Attorney General, argued the cause for respondent. Also on the briefs were Ellen F.

Cite as 309 Or App 72 (2021) 73

Rosenblum, Attorney General, and Benjamin Gutman, Solicitor General.

Before Lagesen, Presiding Judge, and DeVore, Judge, and James, Judge.

JAMES, J. Convictions on Counts 1 and 6 reversed and remanded; remanded for resentencing; otherwise affirmed.

74 State v. Arellano-Sanchez

JAMES, J. Defendant appeals from a judgment of conviction for one count each of first-degree robbery, ORS 164.415 (Count 1); second-degree assault, ORS 163.175 (Count 2); fourth-degree assault, ORS 163.160 (Count 3); unlawful use of a weapon, ORS 166.220 (Count 6); menacing, ORS 163.190 (Count 7); first-degree burglary, ORS 164.255 (Count 8); attempted first-degree arson, ORS 164.325 (Count 10); and second-degree criminal mischief, ORS 164.354 (Count 11).1 On appeal, defendant raises four assignments of error and three supplemental assignments of error.

Defendant’s supplemental assignments raise nonunanimous jury challenges. The trial court instructed the jury, “[t]his being a criminal case, 10 or more jurors must agree on your verdict.” Defendant did not object to that instruction or request a unanimous jury instruction. The jury returned an 11-to-1 verdict on Count 1 and a 10-to-2 verdict on Count 6. The remaining counts were unanimous. Defendant did not object to the court’s receipt of the nonunanimous verdicts on Counts 1 and 6. In his second and third supplemental assignments of error defendant raises a plain error challenge to the receipt of nonunanimous verdicts on Counts 1 and 6. The state concedes the error. We accept the concession, and we exercise our discretion to reverse and remand on Counts 1 and 6. Ramos v. Louisiana, 590 US ___, 140 S Ct 1390, 206 L Ed 2d 583 (2020); State v. Ulery, 366 Or 500, 504, 464 P3d 1123 (2020) (“[D]efendant has a significant interest in a new trial before a jury properly instructed that it must be unanimous to convict. And, though the state has a competing interest in avoiding the expense and difficulty associated with a retrial, the balance weighs in defendant ’s favor.”).

In defendant’s first supplemental assignment of error, he challenges the trial court’s giving of a nonunanimous

1 Although the state also charged defendant with an additional count each of unlawful use of a weapon, ORS 166.220 (Count 4), and menacing, ORS 163.190 (Count 5), the trial court granted the state’s motion to dismiss those charges. Additionally, the trial court merged the verdicts on Count 8 and Count 9, which were both charges for first-degree burglary, ORS 164.255, and entered a single burglary conviction on Count 8.

Cite as 309 Or App 72 (2021) 75

jury instruction as reversable error even as to those counts on which the jury returned a unanimous verdict. Defendant’s argument is foreclosed by State v. Flores Ramos, 367 Or 292, 334, 478 P3d 515 (2020) (“[T]he trial court’s instruction to the jury that it could return a nonunanimous verdict did not amount to a structural error and was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.”).

Turning to the assignments of error raised in defendant ’s opening brief, we reject the first without discussion. Regarding defendant’s second assignment of error, although we are already reversing the conviction by nonunanimous verdict on Count 6, pursuant to Ramos, because the issue could arise on remand, we note that the parties on appeal agree that the trial court erred in reconstituting defendant’s criminal history score, as to Count 6.

As to defendant’s combined assignments of error three and four, defendant asserts that the trial court erred in denying his request for jury concurrence instructions on Count 2, second-degree assault, and Count 3, fourth-degree assault. The state concedes that defendant properly preserved a request for a concurrence instruction as to Count 2. Defendant acknowledges that his request for a jury concurrence instruction for Count 3 is unpreserved and urges this court to, nonetheless, review for plain error. As we will explain, a concurrence instruction was not required for either assault charge in this case.

The pertinent facts are undisputed. R met defendant when defendant showed up at R’s house drunk and said that he had no place to live. R was living with his wife, their five children, and one grandchild, but he had an extra bedroom at his onsite autobody shop. Defendant agreed to keep the shop clean in exchange for housing and living necessities . Defendant lived and worked there for a few months, but R asked defendant to leave after he had attacked two other people at the shop, chased a person with an axe, and destroyed customers’ car batteries.

About a week after R asked defendant to leave, R awoke to find pink-painted graffiti defendant painted on the side of R’s house and fence that read “12th Street,” “payback ,” and “RIP Junie,” which was R’s nickname. On the 76 State v. Arellano-Sanchez

back door of his house, R also saw a cross, other symbols, and the number “777,” which he had previously caught defendant tagging using the same paint color. Shortly thereafter, R, his wife, and their eight-year-old daughter left home to get paint removal supplies and to drop the daughter off at school, but she forgot her backpack, so they turned around and went home.

When they arrived home, R saw the front door open and defendant inside. Defendant came out of the house with R’s property in his hands, including high-valued items from underneath R’s bed. R confronted defendant. Defendant dropped the items he was carrying, charged at R, and pulled out a knife with a four- or five-inch blade. R ran around the car and told his wife to drive away. R testified that he intended to kill defendant.

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State v. Arellano-Sanchez, 481 P.3d 349, 309 Or. App. 72 (Or. Ct. App. 2021).

481 P.3d 349 (State v. Arellano-Sanchez) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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