State v. Blacker

380 P.2d 789, 234 Or. 131, 1963 Ore. LEXIS 410
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedApril 10, 1963
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 380 P.2d 789 (State v. Blacker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Blacker, 380 P.2d 789, 234 Or. 131, 1963 Ore. LEXIS 410 (Or. 1963).

Opinion

PERRY, J.

The defendant entered a plea of guilty to the crime of assault with a dangerous weapon. Subsequent to the plea of guilty the state filed a pleading designated by the state as an information, which is as follows:

“Comes now MAR YIN J. WEISER, the duly elected, qualified and acting District Attorney for Polk County, State of Oregon, and in the name of, and by the authority of, the State of Oregon, informs the Court that the said JAMES L. BLACKER, defendant herein, on the 15 day of May, 1962, was duly and regularly convicted in the Circuit Court of Polk County, State of Oregon, of the crime of ASSAULT WITH DANGEROUS WEAPON, which is a felony as provided in ORS 166.250 (sic);
“That said felony was committed within this .State,, while armed with a pistol capable of being concealed upon the person, without he, the said defendant, having a license or permit to carry said firearm;
“That said pistol is a firearm having a barrel *133 less than twelve inches (12") in length, as provided in ORS 166.210(1), which is more particularly described as follows: a 9 mm Smith and Wesson Model 39, Semi-automatic pistol bearing serial number 30038.
“That I make this information under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Oregon, and, particularly ORS 166.230, for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions thereof and for the purpose of accusing the said defendant JAMES L. BLACKER, of the commission of the felony while armed with a pistol capable of being concealed upon the person without having a license or permit to carry such pistol, contrary to the statutes in such cases made and provided and against the peace and dignity of the State of Oregon.”

The court thereupon informed the defendant of the subsequent pleading and defendant, in effect, denied that at the time he committed the assault with the dangerous weapon he was armed with “any pistol, revolver, machine gun or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person, without having a license or permit to carry such firearm, * * Thereupon the court made findings of fact that the defendant was carrying a concealed weapon, without a license, at the time he committed the assault, and thereupon sentenced the defendant to a term not to exceed 10 years in the state penitentiary for the crime of assault with a dangerous weapon, and further provided that he should be imprisoned an additional five years, pursuant to the provisions of ORS 166.230.

The defendant does not contend that his plea of guilty to the crime of assault with a dangerous weapon is in anywise invalid, but does contend that the court exceeded its jurisdiction when it imposed the additional sentence of five years. This because he was not *134 indicted by a grand jury or tried by a jury relative to the violation of the provisions of ORS 166.230.

Since a trial before the court was bad as to the matters alleged in the subsequent information filed by the state, and the court found that the defendant at the time he committed the assault was armed with a pistol capable of being concealed upon the person, and that he had no license or permit to carry such a firearm, the question presented is whether or not the court erred in pronouncing the additional sentence, since there was no allegation in the original information that at the time he committed the crime he was armed with a concealable weapon and unauthorized by law to be so armed.

ORS 166.230, insofar as is material, reads as follows :

“Any person who commits or attempts to commit any felony within this state while armed with any pistol, revolver, machine gun or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person, without having a license or permit to carry such firearm, upon conviction of the felony or of an attempt to commit the felony, shall, in addition to the punishment prescribed for the crime of which he has been convicted, be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for not more than 10 years. Such additional period of imprisonment shall commence upon the expiration or other termination of the sentence imposed for the crime of which he stands convicted and shall not run concurrently with such sentence.”

It is noted that ORS 166.230 does not provide that the carrying of a concealed firearm without a license or permit is in itself a crime. It provides only that the person who commits or attempts to commit any felony while so armed shall suffer a greater penalty than another who has committed a felony not so armed.

*135 The crime of possession of concealed weapons is described and made punishable under ORS 166.250. The legislature therefore clearly intended and provided that ORS 166.230 should be considered as aggravating the felony charged.

The defendant relies upon State v. Waterhouse, 209 Or 424, 307 P2d 327. In that case the defendant was charged with the crime of invasion of privacy, and there was set forth in the indictment the allegation that the defendant had been previously convicted of the crime of rape. The allegation of the crime of rape was included, since ORS 167.050 provided that any person who had previously been convicted of a sex crime might be sentenced for the crime of invasion of privacy to a life term in the penitentiary. The majority of the court then held that, since the statute did not itself provide the procedure whereby the fact as to the previous conviction for rape might be determined subsequent to the determination of the guilt of the defendant for the crime of invasion of privacy, the prior conviction was a necessary ingredient of the crime charged and must therefore be alleged and proven. This because, since the legislature, having failed to provide different procedure, the court was bound to follow the common law which required that every wrongful act which is to be taken into account in determining the punishment must be alleged in the indictment. Bishop’s New Criminal Procedure, Vol. 1, Chapter VI, page 59.

Subsequent to the decision in State v. Waterhouse, supra, the legislature has provided in all cases where the sentence is enhanced by reason of a prior conviction (ORS

Related

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State v. Lark
833 P.2d 1286 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1992)
State ex rel. Juvenile Department v. Merritt
732 P.2d 46 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1987)
State v. Arce
730 P.2d 1260 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1986)
State v. Hansen
728 P.2d 538 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1986)
Commonwealth v. Reed
680 S.W.2d 134 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1984)
State v. Hicks
589 P.2d 1130 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1979)
State v. Apao
586 P.2d 250 (Hawaii Supreme Court, 1978)
State v. Howe
554 P.2d 605 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1976)
State v. McIntire
540 P.2d 399 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1975)
State v. Thompson
532 P.2d 1140 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1975)
State v. Woodfork
528 P.2d 1351 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1974)
State v. Howard
486 P.2d 1301 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1971)
State v. Mershon
460 P.2d 363 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1969)
State v. Nolan
418 S.W.2d 51 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1967)
State v. Engeman
420 P.2d 389 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1966)
State v. Hoffman
385 P.2d 741 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1963)

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Bluebook (online)
380 P.2d 789, 234 Or. 131, 1963 Ore. LEXIS 410, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-blacker-or-1963.