State v. Bailey

213 P.3d 1240, 346 Or. 551, 2009 Ore. LEXIS 47
Oregon Supreme Court·Decided July 30, 2009·No. CC 200406042A; CA A126255; SC S056152·Published·Cited by 36 cases

Opinion

*553 GILLETTE, J.

This is one of two cases that we decide today involving a defendant’s challenge to a conviction under ORS 162.285 for “tampering with a witness.” Both cases involve the same analytical question: Can a person commit the crime of “tampering with a witness,” under ORS 162.285(1)(a), which involves inducing “a witness or a person the person believes may be called as a witness in any official proceeding” to withhold testimony, when no “official proceeding” is pending at the time of the inducement? In this case, the Court of Appeals concluded that ORS 162.285(1)(a) does not require that an official proceeding be pending at the time of the “tampering” conduct. State v. Bailey, 219 Or App 526, 530-34, 183 P3d 232 (2008). For the reasons set out below, we agree with the Court of Appeals’ interpretation of the statute in that respect. However, because we disagree with the Court of Appeals’ conclusion that the evidence was sufficient to support defendant’s conviction under that interpretation, we reverse the court’s decision on that ground.

Defendant was charged with witness tampering based on threats that he made to his daughter after she told him that she intended to call the police to report that defendant had in his possession some all terrain vehicles (ATVs) that he had stolen. 1 At trial, defendant’s daughter testified that, on January 9, 2004, when she first told defendant of her intentions, he warned her that if she “made the call * * * he was going to kill [her] and that [it] would be the stupidest thing [she] could ever do in [her] life.” The daughter also testified that, immediately after making that initial threat, defendant left a message on her cell phone answering service. The prosecutor played that message for the jury. In it, defendant warned his daughter that, “if you make fucking phone calls starting the bullshit, it’ll be the last phone call you fucking make.” Defendant’s daughter also testified that, on the same day that defendant made the forgoing threats, she “went down * * * and had a restraining order put on him.”

*554 In support of the witness tampering charge, the prosecutor played recordings of several other messages that defendant had left on his daughter’s answering service in the days following the original (January 9, 2004) threats. In one, defendant seemed to be clarifying his earlier phone message: “I didn’t threaten to fucking kill you. * * * What I said was, * * * I’ll cut off your fucking phone service — in fact, it’s now cut off.” In that same message, defendant made several references to things that his daughter had said or should say to “the court.” He asked his daughter “how [she] could * * * go in there and lie to the court and tell them shit like that,” and then instructed her to

“be sure you keep this recording and take it to the court and let them hear it. ’Cause there’s nothing in there that threatens your life. It said, ‘It’ll be the last phone call you make, [because] I’ll shut off your phone.’ You’re pretty stupid.
“I hope you get fired. I hope you lose your car. I hope you lose your whole fucking life. See ya. You know where I’ll be if you ever want to talk about things. But you’re done. You — you just made the biggest mistake you could ever fucking make. Bye.”

In yet another message, defendant reminded his daughter that her neighbors had seen one of the ATVs at her house and likely thought it was hers. Defendant then suggested that his daughter had “lied to the court” about living in an apartment and buying a trailer, reminded her that he had been paying her taxes and car insurance, and suggested that someone who did those things would hardly be considered abusive toward her. He added,

“We’ll go on to court. I’ll tell them about your restraining order. When the judge sees how much you lied, then when everybody goes to court, with me against you and your restraining order gets dropped, you’re going to think twice about what you were doing. Or you could pull your head out of your ass, go back down to the court and drop your stupid restraining order.”

In another message, defendant told his daughter that he would be “sure to tell [the court]” about an apparently unsuccessful attempt to get a restraining order against “Jerry.” In yet another message, defendant advised his *555 daughter that he was going to help her ex-husband gain custody of the daughter’s child. And in a final telephone message, defendant warned that “you’ll be homeless Monday morning if you make that phone call.”

At the close of the trial, defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal on the witness tampering charge. The trial court denied the motion and the charge then went to the jury. Defendant ultimately was found guilty of witness tampering, along with other crimes relating to the stolen ATVs and other stolen vehicles.

Defendant appealed, arguing that he was entitled to a judgment of acquittal on the witness tampering charge. Defendant pointed out that the relevant part of ORS 162.285(1)(a) defines witness tampering in terms of “inducting] or attempting] to induce a witness or a person the person believes may be called as a witness in any official proceeding to * * * unlawfully withhold any testimony.” (Emphasis added.) Defendant asserted that the statute requires that an official proceeding be pending at the time of the tampering conduct and noted that the statements and messages that the state relied on to prove its case occurred long before any “official proceeding” ever was contemplated. Defendant also argued that the statements were directed at stopping his daughter from speaking with police, and were in no way concerned with testimony in any official proceeding.

The Court of Appeals was not persuaded. It concluded that, to the extent that ORS 162.285(1)(a) applies when a defendant “believes” that the other person “may be called as a witness in any official proceeding” (emphasis added), it does not require that an official proceeding be pending at the time of the tampering conduct. Bailey, 219 Or App at 530-34. The Court of Appeals also concluded that, although defendant’s threats ostensibly were directed at his daughter’s intention to make a police report about the stolen ATVs, a reasonable jury could infer that they also were directed at coercing her into withholding testimony in any criminal proceeding that might arise out of her report. Id. at 535.

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

State v. Bailey, 213 P.3d 1240, 346 Or. 551, 2009 Ore. LEXIS 47 (Or. 2009).

213 P.3d 1240 (State v. Bailey) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

State v. T. L. E.
Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2026
Mesch v. Unity Center for Behavioral Health
Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2026
State ex rel Amarok, LLC v. City of Gresham
347 Or. App. 245 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2026)
State v. Murphy
344 Or. App. 185 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2025)
State v. Fleming
343 Or. App. 465 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2025)
Mohiadeen v. Washington County Sheriff's Office
338 Or. App. 29 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2025)
State v. Martin-Thanislaus
549 P.3d 1288 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2024)
State v. Walker
549 P.3d 576 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2024)
Moore v. City of Eugene
482 P.3d 190 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2020)
State v. Jones
445 P.3d 358 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2019)
State v. Berrios
203 A.3d 571 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2019)
State v. P. T. (In re P. T.)
433 P.3d 778 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2018)
Orlando Vasquez-Valle v. Jefferson Sessions, III
899 F.3d 834 (Ninth Circuit, 2018)
Trevioun Lamont Cornelius Briggs v. State of Mississippi
226 So. 3d 59 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2017)
State v. McNally
392 P.3d 721 (Oregon Supreme Court, 2017)
Thomas v. Wasco County
392 P.3d 741 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2017)
State v. Williams
365 P.3d 1144 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2015)
State v. Urie
341 P.3d 855 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2014)
State v. Austin
333 P.3d 1224 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2014)
People v. Nozolino
2014 COA 95 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2014)