State v. Berglund

491 P.3d 820, 311 Or. App. 424
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedMay 12, 2021
DocketA165232
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 491 P.3d 820 (State v. Berglund) 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. Berglund, 491 P.3d 820, 311 Or. App. 424 (Or. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

Argued and submitted May 29, 2019, reversed and remanded for resentencing May 12, 2021

STATE OF OREGON, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. SEAN TAYLOR BERGLUND, Defendant-Appellant. Multnomah County Circuit Court 120646784; A165232 491 P3d 820

Defendant appeals a sentencing judgment revoking his court-supervised pro- bation. During the initial probation period, the court commenced revocation pro- ceedings by issuing an arrest warrant, but the revocation hearing was not held until well after the probation period expired. In connection with the revocation hearing, and also well after the probation period expired, the state added six additional probation violation claims, all occurring during the probation period. Defendant assigns error to the court’s consideration of the additional probation violation claims. Held: The trial court erred in considering the additional proba- tion violation claims raised by the state after the probation period ended. The specific statute that empowers a court to sentence probationers for violations confines that power to probation violations that are actually charged during the probation period. Reversed and remanded for resentencing.

Eric J. Bergstrom, Judge. Sarah De La Cruz, Deputy Public Defender, argued the cause for the appellant. Also on the brief was Ernest G. Lannet, Chief Defender, Criminal Appellate Section, Office of Public Defense Services. Timothy A. Sylwester, Assistant Attorney General, argued the cause for respondent. Also on the brief were Ellen F. Rosenblum, Attorney General, and Benjamin Gutman, Solicitor General. Before Ortega, Presiding Judge, and Powers, Judge, and Sercombe, Senior Judge. SERCOMBE, S. J. Reversed and remanded for resentencing. Powers, J., dissenting. Cite as 311 Or App 424 (2021) 425

SERCOMBE, S. J. Defendant appeals from a sentencing judgment, claiming that the trial court erred in revoking his court- supervised probation. During the period of probation, the court commenced probation revocation proceedings by issuing an arrest warrant. The warrant was based on an alleged probation violation, specified in the supporting affi- davit, that defendant had pleaded guilty to a crime. Later, after the probationary period ended, the trial court initiated supplemental proceedings to revoke probation by ordering a probation violation hearing based on violations alleged in a new affidavit. Those charges included the original charge and six additional probation violation claims. The court revoked probation after it found that defendant commit- ted two of the new charges. On appeal, defendant argues that the trial court lacked authority to revoke his probation based on charges filed after the conclusion of the probation period and that the court’s authority to revoke probation is limited to adjudicating claims brought while the probation was still in force. “We review a trial court’s revocation of probation for errors of law.” State v. Miller, 224 Or App 642, 644, 199 P3d 329 (2008). For the reasons explained below, we conclude that the trial court erred in revoking probation based on allegations contained in the post-probation affida- vit. Accordingly, we reverse the sentencing judgment and remand for resentencing. The facts are undisputed. In June 2012, defendant pleaded guilty to misdemeanor driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII) and entered into diversion. In September 2012, defendant was involved in a fatal car accident due to driving while intoxicated and was indicted for first-degree manslaughter in May 2013. In June 2013, the court revoked diversion due to defendant’s involvement in the fatal acci- dent, entered a judgment of conviction for DUII from the June 2012 plea, and sentenced defendant to a two-year probationary sentence, which meant that the probationary term would have expired in June 2015. In March 2014, the court issued a probation violation warrant based on an affi- davit that alleged that defendant had violated his probation 426 State v. Berglund

when he pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter as a result of the September 2012 fatality. A hearing on that affidavit was scheduled but was set over multiple times. In January 2017, long after the expiration of the probation period, the state sought to file a new affidavit to add new allegations to the original probation violation claim. Defendant objected and argued that any new charges would be untimely and that the grounds for revoking pro- bation were limited to the allegation in the affidavit filed before the expiration of probation. The court permitted the state to file an amended affidavit that added new claimed violations. The court explained: “Well, because of the confusing nature of the record, and the timing of everything, I think it’s probably appropriate * * * for the State to lay out what they believe the violations are, and then each side can be prepared to either admit or prove those violations.” In March 2017, the state filed the new “affidavit and order for judicial supervision probation violation” alleging seven different violations during the probationary period, including that defendant: (1) pleaded guilty to manslaugh- ter (the charge in the original affidavit); (2) pleaded guilty to two counts of contempt in an unrelated case; (3) failed to complete a drug and alcohol evaluation as required; (4) failed to complete any and all required drug and alco- hol treatment; (5) did not comply with the enhanced bench probation monitoring program or its conditions; (6) drove a motor vehicle without a license; and (7) left the state with- out the court’s permission. Based on that affidavit, the trial court scheduled a probation violation hearing. In June 2017, the trial court held the probation vio- lation hearing on the allegations in the March 2017 affida- vit. At the hearing, the state withdrew the allegation from the March 2014 affidavit.1 Ultimately, the court found that defendant violated the conditions of his probation by failing

1 The prosecutor conceded that pleading to the crime of manslaughter that occurred before the imposition of probation was not a “new law violation” that was committed during the probationary period. Cite as 311 Or App 424 (2021) 427

to complete a drug and alcohol evaluation and treatment pro- gram, as well as leaving Oregon without the court’s permis- sion. The court entered a judgment revoking probation and imposed a six-month jail sentence on the DUII conviction. On appeal, defendant argues that the trial court erred “in allowing the state to proceed on an untimely filed affidavit and in revoking probation based on allegations not contained in the original warrant.” Specifically, defendant argues that the trial court lacked authority to revoke pro- bation based on new allegations in the March 2017 affidavit because those allegations “do not [relate] back to the orig- inal warrant” and because “a court’s authority to conduct probation violation hearings after probation has ended is limited to allegations in the original warrant.” Defendant explains that the relevant statutes allow the court authority to adjudicate violations of the conditions of probation that are charged during the period of probation, even if the adjudication occurs after probation concludes. The statutes do not, however, grant the court the authority to initiate supplemental proceedings, after the expiration of probation, to punish different probation violations. We agree with defendant. The sentencing authority of a court must be expressly conferred by statute. As stated in State v. Coventry, 290 Or App 463, 464, 415 P3d 97 (2018), a “court’s sentenc- ing authority exists solely by virtue of a statutory grant of power and therefore cannot be exercised in any manner not specifically authorized.” Under ORS 137.593

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
491 P.3d 820, 311 Or. App. 424, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-berglund-orctapp-2021.