State v. Blair

879 P.2d 900, 129 Or. App. 551, 1994 Ore. App. LEXIS 1197
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedAugust 10, 1994
Docket91-2026CR; CA A78196
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 879 P.2d 900 (State v. Blair) 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. Blair, 879 P.2d 900, 129 Or. App. 551, 1994 Ore. App. LEXIS 1197 (Or. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

LEESON, J.

In this criminal case, the state appeals two pretrial orders issued together on December 16, 1992. The first order suppressed evidence that was obtained by two grand jury subpoenas served in May, 1991. The second order quashed a grand jury subpoena that was issued in August, 1992. We affirm.

On May 7, 1991, Detective Santos of the Klamath Falls Police Department contacted defendant and told her that she was suspected of stealing from her employer’s payroll funds. He asked whether a certain account number at the Forest Products Federal Credit Union (the credit union) was hers. She said that it was not, and told him the number of her account. Santos then went to the district attorney’s office and obtained a grand jury subpoena for defendant’s financial records at the credit union. Later that day, without providing defendant the notice required by ORS 192.565, Santos served the subpoena on the credit union. The credit union delivered the requested records. On May 9, 1991, Santos served a second subpoena on the credit union, again without providing notice to defendant, requesting more of her financial records. The credit union again complied.

On July 25,1991, a grand jury indicted defendant for three counts of theft in the first degree. ORS 164.055. Santos was the only witness before the grand jury. On June 15,1992, defendant filed a pretrial motion to suppress evidence of her financial records obtained by the May, 1991, subpoenas. In a supplemental memorandum in support of that motion, filed on August 12,1992, defendant argued that the state’s failure to serve her copies of those subpoenas, as required by ORS 192.565(2), deprived her of the right to move to quash them under ORS 192.565(5).1 In the light of those and other defects [554]*554in the May, 1991, subpoenas, she contended that the evidence obtained by them was inadmissible at trial under ORS 192.590(5).2 She also contended that the financial records were obtained in violation of her rights under Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution.

On the same day that defendant filed her supplemental memorandum, August 12, 1992, the district attorney sought to correct the alleged defects in the May, 1991, subpoenas by issuing a grand jury subpoena for the same documents that complied with the requirements of ORS 192.550 et seg. Defendant moved to quash that subpoena, on the ground that the state should not be given a second chance to seize evidence that it had already seized illegally. The state countered her motion to quash with a motion to compel production of the documents sought by the August, 1992, subpoena.

The court held a consolidated hearing on defendant’s motion to. suppress evidence obtained by the May, 1991, subpoenas, her motion to quash the August, 1992, subpoena, and the state’s motion to compel production.3 Following the hearing, the trial court issued a letter opinion. It held that the May, 1991, subpoenas were issued in violation of the procedures required by ORS 192.565, and in violation of defendant’s rights under Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution. It granted defendant’s motion to suppress the evidence obtained by the May, 1991, subpoenas.

[555]*555The court then granted defendant’s motion to quash the August, 1992, subpoena. Its letter opinion reasoned:

“Records obtained without a search warrant and without following the procedure in ORS 192.565 are inadmissible in any proceeding. ORS 192.590(5). To allow admission of the records as a result of a second, proper subpoena would defeat the purposes of the exclusionary rule and the ‘right of the people.’ * * * The motion to quash is granted.”

On December 16, 1992, the court entered separate orders, each incorporating the letter opinion, granting defendant’s motions to suppress and to quash.4 As a result of the order granting the motion to quash the August, 1992, grand jury subpoena, that subpoena was never served and no evidence was obtained by it.

On January 15,1993, the state filed a notice of appeal “from the pretrial orders suppressing evidence and quashing subpoena entered on December 16,1992.” However, the state does not assign error to the order suppressing evidence obtained by the May, 1991, subpoenas, and it does not argue that that order was erroneous. Accordingly, we affirm the order suppressing the evidence obtained by the May, 1991, subpoenas. We write only to address whether the state may assign error to the order granting defendant’s motion to quash the August, 1992, subpoena.

In a criminal case, the state may assign error only to an order that is appealable under ORS 138.060. State v. Caruso, 289 Or 315, 320, 613 P2d 752 (1980).5 The state concedes that “an order quashing a subpoena is not one of the orders enumerated in ORS 138.060[.]” Nonetheless, it contends that the order quashing the August, 1992, grand jury subpoena had the effect of suppressing evidence and therefore is appealable pursuant to ORS 138.060(3), which provides, in part:

“The state may take an appeal from the circuit court or the district court to the Court of Appeals from:
[556]*556<<$ * * * *
“(3) An order made prior to trial suppressing evidence [.]”

The state is correct that whether an order is appeal-able depends on its effect, rather than its form. State v. Koennecke, 274 Or 169, 545 P2d 127 (1976) (a pretrial order excluding certain testimony was appealable because it had the same effect as a pretrial order suppressing evidence); State v. Hoare, 20 Or App 439, 532 P2d 240 (1975) (a pretrial order sustaining an advance objection to evidence was appeal-able because it had the same effect as a pretrial order suppressing evidence). The state maintains that the order quashing the August, 1992, subpoena is an order suppressing evidence under ORS 138.060(3), because

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
879 P.2d 900, 129 Or. App. 551, 1994 Ore. App. LEXIS 1197, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-blair-orctapp-1994.