State v. Deck

735 P.2d 637, 84 Or. App. 725, 1987 Ore. App. LEXIS 3388
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedApril 15, 1987
DocketB66-524; CA A36764
StatusPublished

This text of 735 P.2d 637 (State v. Deck) 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. Deck, 735 P.2d 637, 84 Or. App. 725, 1987 Ore. App. LEXIS 3388 (Or. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinions

NEWMAN, J.

Defendant appeals his conviction for sexual abuse in the second degree, a Class A misdemeanor. ORS 163.415.1 He argues that the court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal, in improperly instructing the jury and in admitting hearsay evidence at sentencing. We affirm the conviction but vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing.

On October 1, 1984, the victim’s mother called the police and informed them that her daughter, age 13, had told her that she had been sexually abused by defendant on March 9, 1984. Defendant was arrested and charged with sexual abuse in the second degree. At trial, the victim testified that she had babysat for defendant and his wife on March 8, 1984. She had stayed overnight at their residence and had slept with their daughter that night. She testified that she was awakened during the middle of the night by someone with a hand on her breast. She stated that she had recognized the person as defendant, that he had asked her how the children behaved that evening and that he had then left the room. She further testified that she did not scream or cry and that she stayed the rest of the night.

Defendant testified that he and his wife went out that evening to celebrate his wife’s birthday, that when they got home he went upstairs to check on the children, that he tucked the bedcovers around the victim and his daughter and that he did not touch the victim’s breast.

After defendant was convicted, the court held a sentencing hearing. ORS 137.080.2 No report of a presentence [728]*728investigation was ordered or offered. See ORS 137.090; ORS 137.530. At the hearing, the state called the victim as a witness in aggravation of the sentence.3 The court also considered that the state had called the victim for that purpose.4 The victim testified, over objection, that defendant’s daughter had told her that she, too, had been abused by defendant.5 The state urged the court to give defendant the maximum sentence of one year in jail. The court suspended imposition of sentence for three years and placed defendant on probation under specified conditions, including confinement in jail for 60 days.

In defendant’s first two assignments, he asserts that the court’s denial of his motion for judgment of acquittal and its jury instruction on inferences were erroneous. These assignments are not well taken and do not merit discussion.

Defendant’s third assignment is that the court erred in allowing the victim, over his objection, to testify about his daughter’s statements. He first argues that the testimony is inadmissible hearsay. The state responds that the rules of evidence governing hearsay do not apply to sentencing and that, therefore, the court properly admitted the testimony. It relies on OEC 101(4), which provides:

“Rules 100 to 412 and Rules 601 to 1008 of the Act [which include the rules concerning hearsay] do not apply in the following situations:
* * * *
“(d) Sentencing, except as required by ORS 137.090.”

ORS 137.090 provides:

[729]*729“The circumstances which are alleged to justify aggravation or mitigation of the punishment shall be presented by the testimony of witnesses examined in open court, except that when a witness is so sick or infirm as to be unable to attend, his deposition may be taken out of court at such time and place, and before such person authorized to take depositions, as the court directs. The court may consider the report of presentence investigation conducted by probation officers pursuant to ORS 137.530 or any other person designated by the court.”

To that argument, defendant replies:

“The only possible conclusion which can be reached by reading OEC 101 (4) (d) together with ORS 137.090 is that the only admissible hearsay at sentencing is that contained in the presentence investigation. All other evidence in aggravation or mitigation must be presented by witnesses in open court and those witnesses must necessarily testify only to first-hand information.”

The state does not argue that ORS 137.090 is inapplicable. It urges, however, that, although ORS 137.090 requires that evidence of aggravating circumstances not contained in the presentence report be presented by live witnesses examined in open court, it does not state that they may not give hearsay testimony.

The state’s interpretation is based on the Legislative Commentary to OEC 101 (4) (d):

“This paragraph exempts sentencing from the rules of evidence and directs attention instead to the statute that specifically governs sentencing procedure. ORS 137.090. Early case law based upon the statute would imply that the state can prove any aggravating circumstance by unsworn statements. Coffman v. Gladden, 229 Or 99, 366 P2d 171 (1961). This case was decided before the institution of presentence reports. Since then, ORS 137.090 has been interpreted as requiring the sentencing court to take the testimony of witnesses when considering any aggravating information that is not contained in the presentence report, if the defendant requests. State v. Collins, 43 Or App 265 (1979); State v. Brown, 44 Or App 597 (1980). A remaining issue is whether witnesses who are sworn are restricted to giving testimony subject to the rules of evidence. State v. McKinney, 7 Or App 248, 489 P2d 976 (1971). As an investigator can put hearsay evidence in a presentence report, State v. Scott, 237 Or 390, 390 P2d 328 (1964), it seems [730]*730pointless to prevent a witness under oath from saying the same thing. However, it can be argued that a trained probation officer is able to eliminate untrustworthy hearsay and bring to the court’s attention only hearsay that is reliable and valuable for its legitimate use. The Legislative Assembly considers judges capable of determining the reliability of hearsay evidence, and agrees that it is pointless to assign different values to the same hearsay depending upon the manner in which it is presented to the court.” Commentary to Oregon Evidence Code 35 (Butterworth 1981).

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Related

Williams v. New York
337 U.S. 241 (Supreme Court, 1949)
Chapman v. California
386 U.S. 18 (Supreme Court, 1967)
State v. Campbell
705 P.2d 694 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1985)
State v. Brown
606 P.2d 678 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1980)
Barber v. Gladden
363 P.2d 771 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1961)
State v. McClure
692 P.2d 579 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1984)
State Ex Rel. Russell v. Jones
647 P.2d 904 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1982)
State v. Woolery
517 P.2d 1212 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1974)
State v. Van Hooser
511 P.2d 359 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1973)
John Deere Indus. Equipment Co., Inc. v. Delphia
511 P.2d 386 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1973)
Admire v. Gladden
362 P.2d 380 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1961)
Coffman v. Gladden
366 P.2d 171 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1961)
Buchea v. Sullivan
497 P.2d 1169 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1972)
State v. Collins
602 P.2d 1081 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1979)
Raudebaugh v. Action Pest Control, Inc.
650 P.2d 1006 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1982)
State v. Scott
390 P.2d 328 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1964)
State v. McKinney
489 P.2d 976 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1971)
Weston v. United States
404 U.S. 1061 (Supreme Court, 1972)

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Bluebook (online)
735 P.2d 637, 84 Or. App. 725, 1987 Ore. App. LEXIS 3388, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-deck-orctapp-1987.