State v. Crescencio-Paz

103 P.3d 666, 196 Or. App. 655
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedDecember 29, 2004
Docket0108-35851; A118605
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 103 P.3d 666 (State v. Crescencio-Paz) 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. Crescencio-Paz, 103 P.3d 666, 196 Or. App. 655 (Or. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

*657 EDMONDS, P. J.

The state appeals defendant’s sentence on his conviction of robbery in the second degree, arguing that the trial court erred in imposing a downward departure sentence under ORS 137.712 without making findings as to whether defendant was disqualified from a departure sentence under the criteria set forth in paragraph (2)(d). On cross-appeal, defendant appeals his conviction, contending that the trial court improperly denied his motion to suppress evidence. We reverse and remand for resentencing on appeal and affirm defendant’s conviction on cross-appeal.

The relevant facts in this case are undisputed. In August 2001, Officer Daniels located defendant near the scene of a robbery that had just occurred. Defendant was sweaty, out of breath, and bleeding from a cut on his finger. Although the officer had received inconsistent information as to the suspect’s description, he determined that defendant’s appearance matched earlier information that he had received about the suspect. The officer patted defendant down, handcuffed him, and placed him in the patrol car. In response to the officer’s inquiry as to his name, defendant indicated in Spanish that he did not speak English. The officer searched defendant’s pockets for evidence of defendant’s identification and discovered handgun cartridges and $512 in cash. Approximately 10 or 11 minutes after the time that the officer initially stopped defendant, another officer brought the victim of the robbery to the patrol car. The victim identified defendant as the robber. Defendant was then formally placed under arrest and charged with robbery in the second degree.

Before trial, defendant moved to suppress “the fruits of [the illegal arrest,] including physical evidence seized, statements [made by him to the police], and on site identifications [by the victim].” He argued that he had been arrested without probable cause at the point that the officer handcuffed him. The trial court denied defendant’s motion, concluding that, although the officer did not have probable cause to arrest defendant, he had reasonable suspicion and that the *658 approximately 10-minute period of detention of defendant until the witness arrived was not unreasonable. 1

Defendant was convicted after a jury trial of robbery in the second degree. ORS 164.405. Second-degree robbery is subject to the mandatory minimum sentencing provisions of Ballot Measure 11 (1994), codified at ORS 137.700. For purposes of sentencing, the state presented évidence that defendant “reasonably put the victim in fear of imminent physical injury” in order to establish that defendant was disqualified from a downward departure sentence under ORS 137.712(2)(d)(C). The state had not made that allegation in its indictment, nor had it presented evidence on that issue to the jury.

Before sentencing, defendant filed a motion for relief from ORS 137.700, requesting a downward departure sentence under ORS 137.712(1) from the 70-month minimum sentence. In his memorandum to the court, he contended that the burden was on the state to prove the existence of any fact that would disqualify him from a downward departure sentence under ORS 137.712(2)(d). Defendant further contended that the state’s post-trial assertion that defendant’s conduct reasonably put the victim in fear of imminent physical injury *659 was an allegation of new criminal conduct, entitling defendant to a jury determination on that issue.

The sentencing court granted defendant’s motion and concluded that he was entitled to a jury determination on the issue. Specifically, the court explained:

“Here, if the conduct of the defendant reasonably put the victim in fear of imminent (significant) physical injury, there is a mandatory minimum sentence. If the conduct did not, then the court is granted discretion to consider whether there are substantial and compelling reasons to depart. A defendant has the right to a jury determination of this issue. As this right was not accorded in this case, the defendant must be given consideration for a downward departure under ORS 137.712.”

The sentencing court determined that defendant was eligible for a departure under ORS 137.712 and imposed a 35-month presumptive sentence as a downward departure without making any findings under ORS 137.712(2)(d).

We begin with defendant’s cross-appeal because a ruling that the trial court erred in denying defendant’s motion to suppress would require reversal of his conviction and sentence, making the state’s appeal moot. Defendant asserts that the officer arrested him unlawfully in violation of both Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution and the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. He points to the fact that the trial court found that the arresting officer did not have a subjective belief that it was more likely than not that defendant had committed the robbery when the officer handcuffed him and placed him in the patrol vehicle. It follows, according to defendant, that, because we are bound by the trial court’s finding regarding the officer’s subjective state of belief, his arrest was unlawful and his motion to suppress should have been granted.

The state responds that, even if defendant were correct that the officer’s actions of handcuffing him and placing him in a patrol car converted the encounter from a lawful stop to an unlawful arrest, he fails to identify anything about that illegality that caused the police to discover any of the evidence at issue. In support of its argument, the state points out that defendant does not challenge on appeal the trial *660 court’s ruling that he was lawfully stopped based on the officer’s reasonable suspicion that he was the robbery suspect for whom police were looking; nor does he argue that the officer was not entitled to frisk him pursuant to the stop, a frisk that resulted in the discovery of the cartridges for a handgun and $512 in cash. Also, the state emphasizes that defendant does not contend that the 10-minute detention for the purpose of permitting the victim to make an identification was unlawful.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Dart
Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2026
State v. Almestica
346 Or. App. 216 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2025)
State v. White
175 P.3d 504 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2007)
State v. Arnold
164 P.3d 334 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2007)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
103 P.3d 666, 196 Or. App. 655, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-crescencio-paz-orctapp-2004.