State v. B. Y.

510 P.3d 247, 319 Or. App. 208
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedApril 20, 2022
DocketA172581
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 510 P.3d 247 (State v. B. Y.) 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. B. Y., 510 P.3d 247, 319 Or. App. 208 (Or. Ct. App. 2022).

Opinion

208 274 319 Orv.App State 2022 B. Y. April 20, 2022

Argued and submitted July 7, 2021; reversed and remanded for reconsideration of disposition, otherwise affirmed April 20, 2022

In the Matter of B. Y., a Youth. STATE OF OREGON, Respondent, v. B. Y., Appellant. Columbia County Circuit Court 19JU00173; A172581 510 P3d 247

Youth appeals from a dispositional judgment committing him to the Oregon Youth Authority for placement in a youth correction facility for one year, to be served consecutively to his commitment from prior cases. Youth makes two assignments of error. First, he assigns error to the trial court’s order to run the commitment consecutively to his commitment from prior cases. Second, youth requests plain-error review of the juvenile court’s imposition of a one-year commitment when the statutory maximum was 364 days. ORS 419C.501(1)(d). Held: The juvenile code does not, as written, authorize the imposition of consec- utive commitments; thus, the juvenile court erred when it ordered that youth’s commitment run consecutive to his prior commitment. Additionally, the Court of Appeals would accept the state’s concession and exercise its discretion to correct the plainly erroneous imposition of a one-year commitment. Reversed and remanded for reconsideration of disposition; otherwise affirmed.

Ted E. Grove, Judge. Christa Obold Eshleman argued the cause for appellant. Also on the brief was Youth, Rights & Justice. Jonathan N. Schildt, Assistant Attorney General, argued the cause for respondent. Also on the brief were Ellen F. Rosenblum, Attorney General, and Benjamin Gutman, Solicitor General. Before James, Presiding Judge, and Lagesen, Chief Judge, and Kamins, Judge. Cite as 319 Or App 208 (2022) 209

KAMINS, J. Reversed and remanded for reconsideration of disposi- tion; otherwise affirmed. Lagesen, C. J., concurring in part, dissenting in part. 210 State v. B. Y.

KAMINS, J. Youth appeals from a dispositional judgment com- mitting him to the Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) for place- ment in a youth correction facility for one year, to be served consecutively to his commitment from prior cases. Youth makes two assignments of error. First, he assigns error to the trial court’s order to run the commitment consecutively to his commitment from prior cases. Second, he assigns error to the trial court’s imposition of a one-year commit- ment when the statutory maximum is 364 days. We con- clude that a juvenile court does not have authority to impose consecutive commitments and that the imposition of a one- year commitment amounted to plain error. We reverse and remand for the juvenile court to reconsider its disposition and otherwise affirm. In 2017, youth was committed to the custody of the OYA for three and a half years in a combined disposition and spent most of his time committed to a youth correction facility. At one point, youth was paroled and subsequently ran away from his placement. When police attempted to apprehend him, he refused to follow the officer’s order to stop and lie on the ground and was then charged with con- duct that, if committed by an adult, would constitute the offense of interfering with a peace officer, ORS 162.247, a Class A misdemeanor. Youth admitted to the charge, and in October 2019, the juvenile court ordered him to serve a one- year commitment to OYA, to be served consecutively to the 2017 commitment, which was set to end in November 2020. Youth timely appealed, assigning error to the juve- nile court’s order imposing the commitment consecutively to his commitment from prior cases and to the court’s imposi- tion of a one-year commitment for a Class A misdemeanor. By way of background, juvenile delinquency pro- ceedings consist of two stages that are roughly comparable to conviction and sentencing in adult criminal cases. State v. Barrett, 350 Or 390, 401, 255 P3d 472 (2011). The first stage is the adjudication, where the juvenile court determines whether a youth has committed an act that would be a crime if committed by an adult. Id. The second is the juvenile court’s determination of the consequences that should follow Cite as 319 Or App 208 (2022) 211

from the adjudication, which is called the disposition. Id. at 402. ORS 419C.501(1) outlines durational limits on different types of dispositions, one of which includes commitment to the OYA, which is the type of disposition youth in this case received. Under ORS 419C.501(1) and (2), a juvenile court disposition can be for an indefinite period, but, similarly to adult sentences of incarceration, the statute imposes limita- tions on commitments and periods of institutionalization. It is that limitation that we address in this opinion. Youth argues that, because the juvenile code is sui generis, the court’s dispositional authority must be explicit. See Kelley v. Gibson, 184 Or App 343, 348, 56 P3d 925 (2002) (“Because proceedings under the juvenile code are sui generis, a juvenile court’s actions must be authorized by the statutes that created it.”); Webster’s Third New Int’l Dictionary 2286 (unabridged ed 2002) (defining sui generis as “of its own kind : constituting a class alone : unique, peculiar”). Specifically, youth notes that, under the current version of the statute that governs maximum dispositions, ORS 419C.501, there is no authority granting a juvenile court permission to impose consecutive commitments. Because no authority outside the juvenile code can be interpreted as authorizing consecutive commitments, youth contends that to grant that authority would be contrary to the rehabilitative purpose of the juve- nile code. The state concedes that there is no express statu- tory authority for consecutive commitments but argues that the legislature’s silence on that issue does not mean that the legislature intended for juvenile courts to have no authority to do so. The state points out that we have already inter- preted the juvenile code to authorize consecutive commit- ments under a prior version of ORS 419C.501, former ORS 419.511 (1971), repealed by Or Laws 1993, ch 33, § 373. State ex rel Juv. Dept. v. T., 27 Or App 407, 409, 556 P2d 146 (1976). Citing legislative history that postdates that case, the state argues that there was no legislative intent to remove that authority with any of the subsequent changes made to the juvenile code. Additionally, even absent legislation permit- ting the imposition of consecutive commitments, the state maintains that it has long been settled law that trial courts have inherent authority to impose consecutive sentences in 212 State v. B. Y.

the adult context, and the reasoning applies with equal force to juvenile courts. See, e.g., State v. Jones, 250 Or 59, 61, 440 P2d 371 (1968); State v. Norman, 71 Or App 389, 392, 692 P2d 665 (1984), rev den, 299 Or 31, cert den, 471 US 1020; 471 US 1139 (1985). We review questions of statutory construction for errors of law. State v. E. C.-P., 289 Or App 569, 572, 410 P3d 1045 (2017). When we interpret a statute, “[w]e ascer- tain the legislature’s intentions by examining the text of the statute in its context, along with relevant legislative history, and, if necessary, canons of construction.” State v.

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Bluebook (online)
510 P.3d 247, 319 Or. App. 208, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-b-y-orctapp-2022.