State v. Clark

300 P.3d 281, 256 Or. App. 428, 2013 WL 1755810, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 466
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedApril 24, 2013
DocketD100319M; A146396
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 300 P.3d 281 (State v. Clark) 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. Clark, 300 P.3d 281, 256 Or. App. 428, 2013 WL 1755810, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 466 (Or. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

DUNCAN, J.

In this criminal case, defendant appeals a judgment convicting her of seven misdemeanors, all of which arose from a traffic accident. Defendant contends that the trial court erred in giving a jury instruction regarding the duties of a driver and in failing to clarify the instruction. She argues that the instruction was improper and its use created a likelihood that the jury would convict her of the six charged crimes that required recklessness even if it found that she acted with a less-than-reckless mental state. We affirm.

Defendant’s charges arose from a traffic accident that took place at an intersection on a foggy night. Defendant was charged with driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII), ORS 813.010, and six counts of offenses requiring the mental state of recklessness: one count of reckless driving, ORS 811.140;1 two counts of fourth-degree assault charged with the mental state of recklessness, ORS 163.160;2 two counts of recklessly endangering another person, ORS 163.195;3 and one count of second-degree criminal mischief, ORS 164.354.4 At trial, the state presented evidence that [430]*430defendant was intoxicated, failed to stop her car at a stop sign, and hit a pickup truck that was going through the intersection. It also presented evidence that both the passenger in defendant’s car and the driver of the pickup truck were injured.

The case was tried to a jury. During a break at trial, the prosecutor requested a special jury instruction, which was based on an instruction given in State v. Stringer, 49 Or App 51, 618 P2d 1309 (1980), aff’d, 291 Or 527, 633 P2d 770 (1981), rev’d on other grounds on reh’g, 292 Or 388, 639 P2d 1264 (1982). Defense counsel objected to the instruction, and the court postponed argument on the matter until a later time. After both sides had rested, the court returned to the subject. The court, which had read the proposed instruction and Stringer, presented an edited version of the instruction. The court’s version of the instruction described the general duties of a driver to drive at a reasonable speed, keep a reasonable lookout, and maintain reasonable control of his or her vehicle. It provided:

“The driver of a motor vehicle is required by law to drive upon a highway or premises open to the public at a speed no greater than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard for the traffic, surface and width of the road, hazards at intersections and any other conditions existing. A driver has a continuing duty to keep a reasonable lookout and maintain the automobile under reasonable control, and that is such as would be exercised by a reasonable person.”

Defense counsel objected to the instruction, arguing that Stringer involved the mental state of criminal negligence, whereas defendant’s charges required recklessness, and that “including a negligence-laden instruction would create a substantial risk that the jury would convict [defendant] on a lower mental state * * * than is required in this case.” Counsel reiterated, “I believe that this creates a substantial risk that the jury will convict [defendant] based on a theory of negligence instead of recklessness [.]”

The court rejected that argument, concluding that the instruction properly stated the standard of care. Defense counsel then proposed an additional sentence that would tell the jury that “a breach of this duty is not reckless in itself.” [431]*431However, after the prosecutor objected, defense counsel said, ‘Yeah, actually if — if [the prosecutor] argues what I anticipate, then it’ll kind of be a — that sentence will be a moot point, I suppose.” The court responded, “Okay. I’m not going to go there, then.” After closing arguments, the court gave the instruction set out above. It noted that defendant took exception to the instruction. The jury convicted defendant on all counts.

Defendant appeals, raising two assignments of error. In the first, she contends that the trial court erred in giving the instruction, arguing that the instruction did not state the proper standard of care for recklessness and, therefore, was irrelevant to the charges. She asserts that the instruction suggested to the jury that it could convict her based on the mental state of negligence, rather than recklessness. In other words, she asserts that the instruction suggested to the jury that it could convict her of recklessness for breaching the general duties of a driver. In her second assignment of error, defendant contends that the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury that a breach of the general duties of a driver “is not reckless in itself” because, in the absence of an explanation of how to apply the duties-of-a-driver instruction, the instruction likely misled the jury. The state responds that defendant did not preserve any of the arguments that she makes on appeal. Alternatively, the state remonstrates that the instruction was permissible under Stringer.

Defendant preserved the argument that she makes in her first assignment of error. In response to the court’s proposed instruction, defense counsel objected that this case was distinguishable from Stringer and that the instruction “create [d] a substantial risk that the jury will convict [defendant] based on a theory of negligence instead of recklessness.” That is, defense counsel argued that the instruction would mislead the jury because it stated the standard of care for negligence, not the standard of care for recklessness. Defendant advances the same argument in her first assignment of error.

Defendant failed to preserve the arguments that she raises in her second assignment of error. As noted above, [432]*432shortly after defense counsel proposed adding a clarifying sentence to the instruction, he conceded that, “if [the prosecutor] argues what I anticipate, then it’ll kind of be a— that sentence will be a moot point, I suppose.” The court responded, “Okay. I’m not going to go there, then.” Defense counsel said, “Okay.” Thus, defense counsel withdrew his request for a clarifying sentence by conceding that it was a moot point, and the court relied on that concession in denying the request. Defendant did not propose adding any other language to the instruction.

We turn to the merits of defendant’s first assignment of error. “We review jury instructions as a whole and will reverse only if we can fairly say that the instructions probably created an erroneous impression of the law in the minds of the jurors that affected the outcome of the case.’” State v. Tucker, 241 Or App 457, 463, 251 P3d 224 (2011) (quoting Maass v. Wilier, 203 Or App 124, 129, 125 P3d 87, (2005), rev den, 340 Or 411 (2006)); see also State v. Bowen, 340 Or 487, 516, 135 P3d 272 (2006), cert den,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
300 P.3d 281, 256 Or. App. 428, 2013 WL 1755810, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 466, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-clark-orctapp-2013.