State v. Bennett

402 P.3d 732, 287 Or. App. 338, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 1014
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedAugust 23, 2017
Docket14VI22054; A158764
StatusPublished

This text of 402 P.3d 732 (State v. Bennett) 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. Bennett, 402 P.3d 732, 287 Or. App. 338, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 1014 (Or. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

DeVORE, P. J.

Defendant appeals a judgmént of conviction, after a bench trial, of operating a motor vehicle while using a mobile communication device, ORS 811.507 (2013).1 She contends that the trial court should have entered a judgment of acquittal because, although she was using her cell phone while driving, she was doing so to coordinate deliveries of agricultural products from her farm and, thus, her conduct falls within the statute’s exemption for using such a device “for the purpose of farming or agricultural operations.” ORS 811.507(3)(b). We agree with defendant and, accordingly, reverse the judgment of conviction.

The pertinent facts are undisputed. Defendant was driving south on 1-5 near the Fremont Bridge one afternoon in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Officer Byrd with the Portland Police Bureau Traffic Division drove up next to defendant and saw that she was holding a cell phone to her ear as she was talking into it. Her window was open. Byrd asked defendant to put the phone down. She yelled back, without putting the phone down, “I’m doing work. You can’t give me a ticket.” Byrd stopped her, and defendant explained that she was conducting business for her family pig farm, coordinating deliveries with her father, the farm owner. Byrd issued defendant a citation for violating ORS 811.507, operating a motor vehicle while using a mobile communication device.

At the hearing on the citation, defendant admitted that she had been using a cell phone while driving, but testified that she was talking to her father, the owner of their family farm, in order to coordinate deliveries of pork products to various stores and restaurants. She argued that ORS 811.507 “state[s] that we are able to be on the phone for agricultural purposes” and that “delivery of [the product produced on a farm] ” is an “agricultural operation” for purposes of the statutory exemption. The trial court credited defendant’s factual account—that she was “part of the agricultural business” and was discussing the delivery of a farm [340]*340product when Byrd cited her—but rejected her construction of ORS 811.507(3)(b):

“[U]nder the facts and circumstances here, I don’t find that making deliveries, whether it’s for an agricultural product that was produced as part of your farming and agricultural operation, that the delivery itself is—fits within the exemption here[.]”

The court entered a judgment of conviction for violation of ORS 811.507, a Class C traffic infraction, and fined defendant $80.

On appeal, defendant contends that the court erred in entering the conviction because her conduct in using her cell phone while driving was “for the purpose of farming or agricultural operations,” within the meaning of ORS 811.507(3)(b), and, therefore, the statute does not apply. “When a defendant’s challenge to the legal sufficiency of the state’s evidence depends upon the meaning of the statute defining the offense, we review the trial court’s construction of the statute for legal error.” State v. Holsclaw, 286 Or App 790, 792, 401 P3d 262 (2017); see also State v. Baranovich, 241 Or App 280, 284, 249 P3d 1284, rev den, 350 Or 571 (2011) (a defendant may preserve a challenge to the legal sufficiency of the evidence in a bench trial by raising the issue during closing argument).

In construing the meaning of a statute, our goal is to discern the intent of the legislature. We do that by considering the text and context, as well as any pertinent legislative history. If the statute’s meaning remains uncertain, we may then apply maxims of statutory construction. State v. Walker, 356 Or 4, 13, 333 P3d 316 (2014); see also State v. Gaines, 346 Or 160, 171-73, 206 P3d 1042 (2009) (explaining statutory construction methodology).

As relevant, ORS 811.507 provides:

“(2) A person commits the offense of operating a motor vehicle while using a mobile communication device if the person, while operating a motor vehicle on a highway, uses a mobile communication device.[2]
[341]*341“(3) This section does not apply to a person who activates or deactivates a mobile communication device or a function of the device or who uses the device for voice communication if the person:
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“(b) Is using a mobile communication device for the purpose of farming or agricultural operations [.] ”

(Emphasis added.)

Defendant contends that “farming or agricultural operations” as used in ORS 811.507(3)(b) encompasses “taking goods to market”—in other words, delivery of finished farm products—focusing on the Bureau of Labor and Industries’ (BOLI’s) definition of “agriculture” in OAR 839-020-0004(4), as well as the dictionary definition of that term, both of which are discussed below.

The state responds that defendant’s argument fails because it ignores the word “operations” in the statute and because “the phrase ‘farming or agricultural operations’ has a well-defined legal meaning”—one that “encompass [es] only the agricultural production phase of an agricultural business but not delivery of a finished agricultural product to market.” (Emphasis added.) The state contends that we should apply that understanding rather than the ordinary meanings of the words used. And, the state contends, the legislative history of ORS 811.507(3)(b) supports that interpretation, or, at least, does not refute it.

As framed by the parties, there is no dispute that defendant’s purpose for using her phone while driving was to coordinate deliveries of products from her family farm. The only question is whether that activity is properly considered “farming or agricultural operations,” within the meaning of ORS 811.507(3)(b). As explained below, we conclude that it is.3

[342]*342We begin by rejecting the state’s argument that “farming or agricultural operations” has a “well-defined legal meaning” that we should apply instead of the plain meaning of those words. The state is correct that, if a term or phrase has a “well-defined legal meaning,” we presume that the legislature intended for it to carry that meaning instead of its “plain, natural, and ordinary” meaning. Dept. of Transportation v. Stallcup,

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State v. Holsclaw
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
402 P.3d 732, 287 Or. App. 338, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 1014, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bennett-orctapp-2017.