State v. Dallavis

432 P.3d 282, 294 Or. App. 567
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedOctober 31, 2018
DocketA160338
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 432 P.3d 282 (State v. Dallavis) 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. Dallavis, 432 P.3d 282, 294 Or. App. 567 (Or. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

TOOKEY, J.

*284*568Defendant appeals a judgment of conviction for furnishing alcohol to a person under 21 years of age and first-degree rape, raising nine assignments of error. We reject defendant's second through eighth assignments of error without discussion. In defendant's first assignment of error, defendant argues that the "trial court erred when it permitted defendant to be tried on the indictment to which it had allowed a demurrer." In his ninth assignment of error, defendant contends that the "trial court erred when it denied defendant's eligibility for sentence modification programs on Count 2." We conclude that defendant failed to object to being tried on the indictment after the trial court allowed his demurrer only as to Count 4 and, therefore, defendant did not preserve that argument. We further conclude that the trial court erred in denying defendant's eligibility for sentence modification programs for the entire period of defendant's 120-month sentence on Count 2. Accordingly, we remand for resentencing and otherwise affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

The pertinent facts are mostly procedural and, for our purposes, undisputed.1 Defendant was indicted on one count of furnishing alcohol to a person under 21 years of age, ORS 471.410 (Count 1), one count of first-degree rape, ORS 163.375 (Count 2), one count of second-degree sexual abuse, ORS 163.425 (Count 3), and one count of failing to report as a sex offender, ORS 163A.040 (Count 4). Defendant filed a demurrer to the indictment, arguing that the state had failed to allege the basis for joining multiple counts in one indictment in the language of the joinder statute. Defendant contended that " ORS 135.630 requires dismissal of an accusatory instrument 'when it appears on the face thereof' that the instrument fails to comply with ORS 132.560," and because "the indictment does not expressly allege that the joined offenses were either (1) of the same or similar character, (2) based on the same act or transaction, or (3) based on *569two or more acts or transactions connected together or constituting parts of a common scheme or plan," the "indictment is subject to dismissal." (Boldface in defendant's demurrer.)2 In the state's objection to defendant's demurrer, *285the state contended that "[t]here is no requirement [that] the state and the grand jury utilize the language the defendant suggests is necessary."

At the hearing on defendant's demurrer, defendant reiterated his argument that the language of the joinder statute is "required to be pled in the indictment" and "there's no joinder language whatsoever in the indictment." Defendant contended that "there's no allegation that * * * the failure to register [and] the other new sex offenses are related by any common scheme or plan or part of the same criminal episode in any way or are the same or similar crimes." The state contended that defendant's demurrer turned on whether the court could conclude from the allegations that all of the "conduct is * * * occurring during the same act and transaction." The trial court noted that the first three counts appeared to have occurred during the same act or transaction because they were alleged to have occurred in the same place on December 29, 2014, and all involved the same *570victim. Defendant acknowledged that those counts are "certainly more related in time and circumstances," but argued that Count 4, for failing to report as a sex offender, was "not similar whatsoever" because it did not involve the same victim "and the time is completely different." Defendant then stated that, because "these are improperly joined charges," the "remedy is dismissal of the indictment."

After taking the matter under advisement, the trial court issued a written opinion and order. The trial court agreed with the state that it need not expressly plead that the charges were part of the same act or transaction and proceeded to determine "whether the four charges in the indictment appear to arise from the same act or transaction." The trial court concluded that Counts 1, 2, and 3, for furnishing alcohol to a minor, first-degree rape, and second-degree sexual abuse, were "properly joined together" as part of the same act or transaction because "[a]ll three incidents are alleged to have been committed by the same defendant against the same victim on [December 29, 2014,] in this county." Turning to Count 4, the trial court concluded that defendant's alleged failure to report as a sex offender did not appear to be part of the same act or transaction because it "can be proven without any reference to December 29, 2014, the alleged victim, or the crimes alleged in Counts 1, 2, and 3." Because the court could not determine from the face of the indictment that Count 4 was properly joined, it allowed defendant's demurrer "as to Count 4," allowed "[t]he state *** to refile within 30 days," and ordered defendant to "prepare the necessary judgment."

The state reindicted defendant for failing to report as a sex offender, and he was convicted of charges stemming from the conduct underlying Count 4 in another case. Additionally, at some point before his trial, defendant prepared a judgment dismissing Count 4 and, when the trial court asked defendant whether "there [is] any further status on" Judge Zennaché's ruling that allowed defendant's demurrer on Count 4, defendant agreed with the state that Count 4 "should be ignored by the court" and did not object to being tried on the remaining charges in the indictment. Following a jury trial, defendant was found guilty of *571furnishing alcohol to a minor, ORS 471.410 (Count 1), first-degree rape, ORS 163.375 (Count 2), and second-degree sexual abuse, ORS 163.425 (Count 3).

At defendant's sentencing hearing, the trial court noted that it had received defendant's proposed judgment of dismissal for Count 4 and that "[w]e discussed Count 4 at the beginning of this case and * * * when we discussed that Judge Zennaché granted the defendant's demurrer to that count * * * it was then reported to me that it's been dealt with." The court then proceeded to impose sentences on the remaining counts.

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Related

State v. Hughes
488 P.3d 795 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2021)
State v. Thompson
481 P.3d 921 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2021)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
432 P.3d 282, 294 Or. App. 567, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-dallavis-orctapp-2018.