State v. Cook

399 P.3d 1026, 286 Or. App. 113, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 783
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJune 14, 2017
Docket13C44836, 13C43278; A155542 (Control), A155541
StatusPublished

This text of 399 P.3d 1026 (State v. Cook) 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. Cook, 399 P.3d 1026, 286 Or. App. 113, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 783 (Or. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

HADLOCK, C. J.

Defendant, who had been ordered not to have contact with his wife or children as a condition of probation following other criminal convictions, nonetheless removed his two-year-old son, C, from another person’s home after he learned that C had been injured by a dog at that house. That incident was reported to police officers, who responded to investigate a possible kidnapping. When officers spotted defendant and C, they ordered defendant to stop and to release C to them. Although defendant did not immediately comply, he let the child go after a few minutes. Defendant subsequently was convicted of recklessly endangering another person, ORS 163.195 (reckless endangerment), and the trial court also revoked defendant’s probation on the earlier convictions. In this consolidated appeal, defendant seeks reversal of his reckless endangerment conviction (case A155542), remand for resentencing in the case in which his probation was revoked (case A155541), and reversal of the trial court’s requirement that he pay attorney fees in both cases. For the reasons set forth below, we reverse the reckless endangerment conviction in case A155542 and remand for resentencing in case A155541.

In reviewing the trial court’s denial of defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal, we set forth the facts in the light most favorable to the state. State v. Bivins, 191 Or App 460, 462, 83 P3d 379 (2004). In early 2013, defendant was convicted of reckless endangerment and strangulation. As a condition of his probation in that case, defendant was prohibited from having contact with his wife or their three young children, including C. However, one day in August 2013, while defendant’s wife and the children were visiting her friends, Hall and Harris, at their residence (the residence), defendant appeared outside the house at about 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning. According to Hall, defendant seemed “a little bit agitated, upset,” as well as intoxicated. Defendant primarily interacted with the children and, at one point, asked one of the children whether Hall was their “new daddy.” Defendant’s wife also thought that defendant was “under the influence” and that caused her concern about his contact with the children because, when he does “any drugs or drinking,” it “messes with his thinking” and [116]*116“he does things he wouldn’t normally do.” Defendant’s wife told defendant, who “looked stressed, not right,” that he had to leave. Defendant left and, shortly thereafter, his wife departed as well, leaving all three children in the care of Hall and Harris.

Sometime after defendant and his wife left, Hall’s dog injured C. Defendant returned to the Hall residence, and Harris sent defendant’s wife a text message informing her of defendant’s return. Meanwhile, defendant, seeing C’s injury, became upset and stated that he did not want to leave C with Hall. When defendant’s wife arrived back at the residence, she found defendant sitting with C on his lap. At that point, she told defendant that he was not welcome and that he needed to leave, assuring him that she would handle the situation. After defendant left, defendant’s wife made an appointment with C’s pediatrician to examine the injury and again left the children with Hall and Harris.

Later that day, defendant again approached the residence, although Hall was not immediately aware of defendant’s presence. The front door was open, and C ran outside. When Hall went to retrieve C, he found defendant holding C “like father with a son.” Defendant asked Hall to get shoes and a bottle for C, which Hall did. While defendant helped C with his shoes, Harris spoke with defendant’s wife on the phone, informing her that defendant had once again returned. Hall attempted to stall for time, testifying that he tried to keep things light to avoid an altercation. Hall thought defendant was concerned because Hall’s dog had injured C and that was why defendant “was coming to get his kid.”

Defendant left the residence with C on foot. Hall followed, telling defendant that he could not let defendant out of his sight. Defendant responded that he just wanted to spend time with his child. Defendant continued to walk away and Hall continued to follow, for two or three blocks.

At some point after defendant left the residence with C, Harris sent a text message to defendant’s wife, who became worried that defendant would “take off” with C or would get into a fight with Hall. Defendant’s wife returned to the residence, calling the police on her way. Defendant’s [117]*117wife also called Hall’s cell phone and told Hall that the police were on their way. By that time, defendant had taken C into a field with tall grass in it, and Hall could not see them anymore.

Five police officers responded to the report of a possible kidnapping and spoke with Hall, who told them where he had last seen defendant and C. Officer Bricker then observed defendant and C walking slowly down a sidewalk in a nearby apartment complex. Bricker testified that defendant “was on the left holding hands with [C] who was walking next to him on his right. And they were both just slowly walking down the sidewalk area.” Another officer, Mintz, called to defendant by name and told him to stop. Defendant did not stop, but continued to walk away, slowly, holding C’s hand. As Bricker and Mintz drew closer to defendant, Captain Pillmore and Officer Boatner arrived, “basically surrounding [defendant], containing him into a smaller area.” A detective, Aljets, also arrived, and the five officers all moved to within about 15 to 25 feet of defendant, “having surrounded and triangulated more or less.”

At that point, defendant picked up C and held him to his chest. Defendant appeared “extremely agitated” and said he that “wasn’t going to put his son down.” Boatner, who was familiar with defendant, described defendant as holding C “all different ways” for the next two to three minutes:

“First holding him standing and then putting him down, and then still holding onto him and crouching behind him, and pretty much holding tight to his child, trying to look around for what appeared to be an escape route.”

Pillmore tried to persuade defendant to put C down. As he did so, Pillmore maintained “a real quiet sort of subdued tone of voice.” Boatner heard defendant say to Pillmore, “This is my kid. I want my kid.” Pillmore responded by telling defendant that he should give C “a hug and kiss, put him down.” At one point, it appeared to Boatner that defendant could be using C as a shield, as defendant had kneeled down with C in front of him. However, Boatner also acknowledged that, when defendant had the child in front of him, it was during the time that Pillmore was instructing defendant to hug and kiss C, and then let him go.

[118]*118Meanwhile, Mintz and Bricker had their tasers in a “low ready position”, “out by their leg just in case that something happened.” Bricker stated that he had his taser “partially concealed behind [his] right leg” because he “didn’t want to agitate anybody. It was already a pretty tense situation.” In addition, he did not want to use the taser because, with defendant holding C, Bricker thought “there was a good probability” that defendant would have either dropped C or fallen on top of him. There was also a risk that the taser would miss and hit C instead of defendant. No firearms or additional weapons were drawn and at no time did officers point the tasers at C.

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Related

State v. Nelson
198 P.3d 439 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2008)
State v. Bivins
83 P.3d 379 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
399 P.3d 1026, 286 Or. App. 113, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 783, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-cook-orctapp-2017.