State v. Curry

146 P.3d 348, 209 Or. App. 31, 2006 Ore. App. LEXIS 1678
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedNovember 1, 2006
Docket9306-33902; A122657
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 146 P.3d 348 (State v. Curry) 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. Curry, 146 P.3d 348, 209 Or. App. 31, 2006 Ore. App. LEXIS 1678 (Or. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

LANDAU, P. J.

Defendant was convicted, after a trial to the court, of various crimes and sentenced to departure sentences based on trial court findings. After exhausting his state avenues of direct appeal and post-conviction relief, he obtained federal habeas corpus relief on the ground that his criminal trial counsel had failed to raise at sentencing a meritorious argument concerning his criminal history. The primary issue before us now is the scope of the criminal trial court’s authority on remand from the federal court, specifically, whether the court may consider on remand information that was unavailable at the time of original sentencing pertaining to defendant’s good behavior in prison since that time. We also consider whether, on remand, the trial court committed plain error under Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 US 466, 120 S Ct 2348, 147 L Ed 2d 435 (2000), and Blakely v. Washington, 542 US 296, 124 S Ct 2531, 159 L Ed 2d 403 (2004), in relying on its own departure findings. We conclude that (1) the trial court properly did not consider defendant’s mitigation evidence on remand; and (2) because defendant waived his right to a jury trial, the trial court’s reliance on its own departure findings was not plain error.

In September 1994, after a trial to the court, defendant was convicted of two counts of compelling prostitution, ORS 167.017, two counts of promoting prostitution, ORS 167.012, one count of rape in the third degree, ORS 163.355, and one count of custodial interference in the first degree, ORS 163.257. The trial court calculated defendant’s criminal history and determined that the applicable sentencing grid block was 8-B. Based on its findings relating to the vulnerability of the victims and defendant’s persistent involvement in similar offenses, the court imposed departure sentences of 60 months’ and 40 months’ imprisonment, respectively, on the convictions for compelling prostitution. The trial court imposed presumptive sentences on the remaining convictions.

Defendant appealed. We affirmed defendant’s convictions and sentences from the bench. State v. Curry, 141 Or [34]*34App 402, 917 P2d 1075, rev den, 324 Or 229 (1996). Defendant then sought state post-conviction relief, which was denied. Curry v. Thompson, 157 Or App 724, 972 P2d 1232 (1998), rev den, 328 Or 330 (1999). In April 2003, defendant obtained federal habeas corpus relief on the ground that his counsel’s failure to raise a meritorious argument regarding his criminal history score constituted ineffective assistance of counsel. Curry v. Palmateer, 62 Fed Appx 157 (9th Cir 2003).

On remand from the federal court, in August 2003, the trial court resentenced defendant. The court first recalculated defendant’s criminal history score. Defendant then sought to present mitigating information relating to his reformation in prison since his initial sentencing. He argued that the trial court was authorized to consider that information under general principles of reformation embodied in the sentencing guidelines and under State v. Rodvelt, 187 Or App 128, 66 P3d 577, rev den, 336 Or 17 (2003). According to defendant, Rodvelt stands for the general proposition that, when an appellate court determines that a sentencing court committed an error requiring resentencing, the proper disposition is to remand the entire case for resentencing on all convictions, because sentencing under the guidelines is “complex” and the sentence on one conviction may affect the sentences on other convictions in the case. In response, the state argued that defendant’s later conduct did not mitigate the existence of the original aggravating factors, namely, the vulnerability of the victim and defendant’s persistent involvement at that time in similar offenses.

The trial court acknowledged defendant’s efforts toward rehabilitation. It stated, however, that it lacked the authority to consider the mitigation evidence. Instead, based on the recalculated criminal history score and the original aggravating factors, the trial court again imposed a departure sentence — this time, 56 months instead of 60 — on defendant’s first conviction for compelling prostitution. It imposed a presumptive sentence on defendant’s other conviction for compelling prostitution and imposed downward departure sentences on defendant’s remaining convictions.

On appeal, defendant first argues that the trial court erred in declining to consider, as a mitigating departure factor, evidence relating to his reformation since initially being [35]*35sentenced. According to defendant, the federal court’s decision ordering that he be resentenced did not place any limitations on the sentencing court’s authority. The state responds that defendant has completed the incarceration portion of his sentence on the relevant conviction and that the asserted error therefore is moot. On the merits, the state argues that the federal court remanded the case only for correction of an error in the calculation of defendant’s criminal history score; according to the state, the remaining aspects of defendant’s sentence are final judgments and not subject to challenge at this stage in the proceedings. The state also argues that, in any event, although trial courts have discretion to consider mitigating evidence, they are not required to do so.

As an initial matter, defendant’s argument concerning the length of the incarceration term of his sentence for compelling prostitution is not moot. Baty v. Slater, 161 Or App 653, 984 P2d 342 (1999), adh’d to on recons, 164 Or App 779, 995 P2d 1176, rev den, 331 Or 191 (2000). We turn to the merits.

A trial court has discretion to impose a departure sentence if it finds substantial and compelling reasons to do so. OAR 213-008-0001. Ordinarily, we review the trial court’s factual basis for departing, not its decision whether to depart. See ORS 138.222(3) (in an appeal from a judgment imposing a departure sentence, sentence review is limited to whether the sentencing court’s findings and reasons justifying the departure are supported by evidence in the record and constitute substantial and compelling reasons for a departure); see also State v. Waage, 160 Or App 156, 158, 981 P2d 333 (1999). In this case, however, we are not called upon to decide whether there was a sufficient factual basis for the court’s decision to depart. Rather, we consider whether the trial court erred as a matter of law in concluding that it lacked authority to consider defendant’s mitigating evidence on remand for resentencing after collateral review.

In State v. Henderson, 146 Or App 81, 932 P2d 577 (1997), the defendant was sentenced in 1991 to life imprisonment with a 25-year mandatory minimum. Id. at 83. He [36]*36sought post-conviction relief on the ground that the indeterminate “life” portion of his sentence was invalid. The post-conviction court agreed, vacated his sentence, and remanded for resentencing. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
146 P.3d 348, 209 Or. App. 31, 2006 Ore. App. LEXIS 1678, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-curry-orctapp-2006.