State v. Chelemedos

398 P.3d 415, 286 Or. App. 77, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 737
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJune 7, 2017
Docket201404292; A157452
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 398 P.3d 415 (State v. Chelemedos) 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. Chelemedos, 398 P.3d 415, 286 Or. App. 77, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 737 (Or. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

TOOKEY, J.

Defendant appeals a judgment of conviction for felony driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII), ORS 813.011, and driving while suspended (DWS), ORS 811.182. Defendant raises two assignments of error. In his first assignment of error, defendant contends that the trial court erred by denying his motion to dismiss for lack of a speedy trial. In his second assignment of error, defendant contends that the trial court erred by failing to dismiss the DWS count because the statute of limitations period had expired. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

The facts are largely procedural and stem from two separate case numbers. On March 4, 2012, Lane County Sherriffis Deputy Jahn stopped defendant for a headlight violation. Jahn subsequently arrested defendant for DUII and DWS. Defendant had previously been convicted of DUII in Lane County in 2011 and in Washington in 2002.

Case No 201204608: On March 5, 2012, the state filed an information alleging that defendant had committed DWS and felony DUII. However, on March 26, the state dismissed the information pending a grand jury indictment. Defendant, who had been held in custody since his arrest, was released upon the state’s dismissal of the information.

On November 5, 2012, a grand jury indicted defendant. When defendant did not appear for his arraignment, the trial court issued a warrant for his arrest and defendant was subsequently arrested on the warrant on December 20. Defendant’s trial was set for February 13, 2013; however, the day before trial was set to begin, the lead prosecutor sustained injuries in a car accident, and the state moved to postpone the trial. Defendant opposed the state’s motion to postpone, arguing that defendant had been in custody since his December 20 arrest. The trial court granted the state’s motion to postpone.

On February 15, 2013, at a pretrial hearing, the trial court ruled that evidence regarding defendant’s out-of-state Washington DUII conviction was inadmissible and the state requested leave to file an interlocutory appeal. The trial court granted the state’s request and ordered defendant [79]*79to be released from custody. On April 18, 2013, the state submitted a motion to dismiss the case without prejudice, and the trial court granted that motion.

Case No 201404292: On February 28, 2014, the state filed an information containing the same two counts alleged in case number 201204608. At his arraignment on April 14, 2014, defendant was taken into custody. Defense counsel subsequently filed a motion for defendant’s release pursuant to ORS 136.290, the 60-day rule.1 At the hearing on defendant’s motion, defense counsel presented evidence that defendant had been detained for 90 days. The trial court ordered defendant to be released.

Defendant subsequently filed a motion to dismiss for lack of a speedy trial. At the trial court’s hearing on that motion, defendant testified that the continued delay and repeated incarceration caused him stress and anxiety and that he suffers from high blood pressure. Defendant testified that he felt degraded by the repeated arrests and that he had lost his home, his business, and a “totally restored sports car.” Defendant testified that pursuant to his release agreement, he was required to wear an ankle bracelet and get a land-line telephone; defendant acknowledged that he had not actually had the land-line installed. Defendant stated that he felt like he was under scrutiny because the police could arrive at his house “any time they want” to check for alcohol. Defendant testified that, after the state had dismissed the case without prejudice for the second time, he believed that the case had been completely resolved.

The trial court entered an order denying defendant’s motion to dismiss.- In the trial court’s order, the trial court concluded that pursuant to State v. Ellis, 263 Or App 250, 328 P3d 720 (2014) (analyzing the statutory speedy trial statute, former ORS 135.747), the speedy trial calculation began on the day the last accusatory instrument was [80]*80filed. Accordingly, the trial court found that the information filed on February 28, 2014, triggered the speedy trial clock and consequently, defendant had not been denied his state or federal constitutional right to a speedy trial.

On June 4, 2014, a grand jury indicted defendant for the DUII and DWS offenses committed on March 4, 2012. Following a jury trial, defendant was found guilty of DUII and DWS.

In his first assignment of error, defendant argues that the trial court erred by denying his motion to dismiss for lack of a speedy trial. Defendant contends that the pretrial delay violated his right to a speedy trial under Article I, section 10, of the Oregon Constitution, and the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Defendant asserts that, because the speedy-trial clock commenced when the state filed the first information on March 5, 2012, the delay lasted over two years. Alternatively, defendant contends that the delay “constituted the 298 days during which the state held defendant to answer for” the DUII and DWS charges. In response, the state argues that the total delay was only four months, because the case in which defendant was convicted began with the filing of an information on February 28, 2014. Alternatively, the state contends that the total delay was no more than 10 months, beginning on November 5, 2012, when defendant was first indicted. The state maintains that, under either calculation, the delay did not violate defendant’s constitutional speedy trial rights. We need not decide which event commenced the speedy-trial clock in this instance because, in any case, defendant has not demonstrated that he suffered actual prejudice as a result of the delay.

In reviewing a trial court’s denial of a defendant’s motion to dismiss for lack of a speedy trial,

“[t]his court is bound by a trial court’s findings of historical fact if there is evidence in the record to support them. Accordingly, the trial court’s findings of fact concerning the length and reasons for the delay, as well as the type, level, and cause of any anxiety that defendant suffered, are binding if supported by evidence. How those findings of historical fact factor into the constitutional analysis presents a question of law.”

[81]*81State v. Johnson, 342 Or 596, 608, 157 P3d 198 (2007), cert den, 552 US 1113 (2008) (citations omitted).

Article I, section 10, provides, in part, that “justice shall be administered * * * without delay [.] ” Under Article I, section 10, “the factors to be considered in evaluating the usual speedy trial claim are: (1) the length of the delay, (2) the reasons for the delay and (3) the resulting prejudice to the accused.” State v. Mende, 304 Or 18, 21, 741 P2d 496 (1987). The first factor—the length of the delay—“serves as a triggering mechanism. If the time taken to bring an accused to trial is substantially greater than the average, inquiry into the remaining two factors is triggered.” Id. at 23-24.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
398 P.3d 415, 286 Or. App. 77, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 737, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-chelemedos-orctapp-2017.