State v. Avila

388 P.3d 383, 283 Or. App. 262, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 1627
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedDecember 29, 2016
DocketCR1300617; A156215
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 388 P.3d 383 (State v. Avila) 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. Avila, 388 P.3d 383, 283 Or. App. 262, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 1627 (Or. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

GARRETT, J.

Defendant appeals a judgment of conviction for two counts of first-degree sexual abuse, ORS 163.427.1 He assigns error to the trial court’s failure to merge the guilty verdicts on those two counts into a single conviction under ORS 161.067(3).2 Reviewing for legal error, State v. Davis, 265 Or App 425, 438-39, 335 P3d 322 (2014), rev den, 356 Or 837 (2015), we agree with defendant that the trial court erred by entering multiple convictions, because the record does not contain evidence that would allow a nonspecula-tive inference that each crime was separated from the other by a “sufficient pause” to allow defendant an opportunity to renounce his criminal intent. Accordingly, we reverse and remand for resentencing.3

The following relevant facts are recounted in the light most favorable to the state. State v. Washington, 355 Or 612, 614, 330 P3d 596, cert den, 135 S Ct 685 (2014). The victim’s mother attended the same church as defendant and his wife. The victim, who was then 11 years old, spent a significant amount of time at defendant’s home while her mother was at work. One afternoon, when they were alone in defendant’s home, defendant told the victim that he wanted to show her something in his bedroom. Inside the bedroom, defendant showed her a book on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and proceeded to demonstrate mouth-to-mouth CPR [265]*265on the victim. Defendant then kissed the outside of the victim’s vagina. Defendant also kissed the victim’s breasts.

Based on those acts, defendant was charged with, among other things,4 two counts of first-degree sexual abuse, ORS 163.427—Count 2 (touching of the victim’s vagina) and Count 3 (touching of the victim’s breasts). Defendant waived his right to a jury trial, and the case was tried to the court. The victim testified that, on the day in question, defendant touched both her vagina and breasts while they were alone in his bedroom.5 Apart from that testimony, the state offered no evidence of the sequence, timing, or duration of those acts. The trial court found defendant guilty on both counts, explaining:

“I think that [the victim] was credible in her testimony and the way she reported it * * *.
«‡⅜⅜⅜‡
“I believe this touching, which did occur, occurred once. * * * I do believe that there was contact by touching her vagina and contact by touching her breasts and therefore I’m going to find the defendant * * * guilty of Counts 2 and 3.”

At sentencing, defendant asked the court to merge the guilty verdicts on Counts 2 and 3 into a single conviction on the ground that both violations “occurred on one day in approximately the same time and approximately the same space.” The trial court denied defendant’s request and entered separate convictions on both counts. Defendant appeals.

The sole issue on appeal is whether the trial court erred in declining to merge defendant’s guilty verdicts and entering separate convictions on Counts 2 and 3. “As a general matter, with respect to a single criminal episode, criminal conduct that violates only one statutory provision will yield only one conviction unless the so-called ‘antimerger’ [266]*266statute, ORS 161.067, operates so as to permit the entry of multiple convictions.” State v. Reeves, 250 Or App 294, 304, 280 P3d 994, rev den, 352 Or 565 (2012). As pertinent here, ORS 161.067(3) provides:

“When the same conduct or criminal episode violates only one statutory provision and involves only one victim, but nevertheless involves repeated violations of the same statutory provision against the same victim, there are as many separately punishable offenses as there are violations, except that each violation, to be separately punishable under this subsection, must be separated from other such violations by a sufficient pause in the defendant’s criminal conduct to afford the defendant an opportunity to renounce the criminal intent. Each method of engaging in deviate sexual intercourse as defined in ORS 163.305, and each method of engaging in unlawful sexual penetration as defined in ORS 163.408 and 163.411 shall constitute separate violations of their respective statutory provisions for purposes of determining the number of statutory violations.”

(Emphasis added.)

Defendant contends that the trial court erred when it failed to merge his guilty verdicts on Counts 2 and 3 because the record lacks evidence of a pause in his criminal conduct sufficient to afford him an opportunity to renounce his criminal intent. Defendant notes that both acts of sexual abuse were directed at the same victim and occurred during a single incident, in a single place. Defendant also points to the absence of evidence of any temporal break or intervening event between the two offenses. Thus, defendant contends that the state failed to carry its burden of showing that the offenses were separated by a “sufficient pause” so as to preclude merger under ORS 161.067(3).

In response, the state does not develop an argument as to sufficient pause. Rather, the state contends that ORS 161.067(3) is inapplicable to this case because defendant’s acts did not constitute “the same conduct or criminal episode” as the phrase is used in that statute. Specifically, the state argues that, because defendant was found guilty of two counts of sexual abuse for contact with two different body parts (the victim’s vagina and breasts), the counts are not based on the “same conduct.” The state further contends that [267]*267the phrase “criminal episode” in ORS 161.067(3) is inapplicable to crimes that, like sexual abuse, involve discrete acts rather than “result-oriented” crimes (e.g., assault) or crimes that involve a “durational aspect” (e.g., kidnapping).6

The state’s argument fails for the reasons articulated in our recent decision in State v. Nelson, 282 Or App 427, 386 P3d 73 (2016). In that case, we expressly rejected the construction of ORS 161.067 that the state urges us to adopt here—i.e.,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Meyers
565 P.3d 463 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2025)
State v. Behnke
333 Or. App. 276 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2024)
State v. Defluri
324 Or. App. 301 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2023)
State v. Loving
417 P.3d 470 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2018)
State v. Williams
391 P.3d 994 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2017)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
388 P.3d 383, 283 Or. App. 262, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 1627, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-avila-orctapp-2016.