State v. Derryberry

521 P.2d 1065, 17 Or. App. 262, 1974 Ore. App. LEXIS 1063
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedApril 29, 1974
DocketNo. C 73-03-1021 Cr
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 521 P.2d 1065 (State v. Derryberry) 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. Derryberry, 521 P.2d 1065, 17 Or. App. 262, 1974 Ore. App. LEXIS 1063 (Or. Ct. App. 1974).

Opinions

LANGTRY, J.

Defendant appeals from a jury trial conviction of first degree theft. ORS 164.055. The sole question on appeal is whether the trial court erred in instructing that evidence of a prior inconsistent statement of a witness who had testified in defendant’s favor could [264]*264be considered by the jury as evidence of impeachment and also to determine the truth of the matter asserted in the out-of-court declaration.

The fact issue at trial was whether defendant knew property found in his possession was stolen. Burglars completely emptied the home of Mary Young of furnishings on January 25, 1973. On February 8, 1973 Joel Clark was found and arrested on a warrant at defendant’s trailer home for a parole violation. The arresting officers became suspicious that the furniture they noticed in defendant’s trailer was stolen. After further investigation they returned with a warrant and seized about one-third of the items that had been stolen from Mary Young’s home.

Joel Clark was called as a witness by the state. He testified that defendant told him he had bought or traded for the furniture. Two police officers then testified that Clark previously had told them that he had been at the defendant’s home January 26, 1973, and that defendant had shown him the furniture and had said he had stolen it the previous day. Clark was recalled to the stand and admitted having talked to the officers but denied having said defendant told him the property was stolen. He was questioned and cross-examined in detail as to his motives for testifying at trial in behalf of defendant and for possibly incriminating defendant in his conversation with the police.

The state in its case-in-chief established that defendant had told the manager of the trailer court that the stolen furniture had been given to him by his father. Police testified that upon his arrest defendant, after waiving his Miranda rights (Miranda v. Arizona, 384 US 436, 86 S Ct 1602, 16 L Ed 2d 694, 10 ALR3d 974 (1966)), told them he bought the furniture from a [265]*265young, black man named Robert Young. "Witnesses for defendant testified they had been present when a young, white man named Robert Young sold defendant the furniture.

Throughout the course of the trial the prosecution took the position that the evidence of Clark’s out-of-court conversation was offered for impeachment purposes only and defendant’s counsel took all appropriate objections and exceptions to its use. The court instructed the jury:

“Testimony regarding the oral statements [made out of court] of persons are to be viewed with caution for the following reasons: * * *
“Testimony has been introduced concerning statements allegedly made by the witness, Joel Clark, regarding statements made by the defendant to him concerning the source of the property which defendant is charged with theft by concealing.
“You may, but you are not required to, consider these statements, if you find that they were made [,] for two purposes:
“First, for purposes of determining the truth or falsity of the testimony of the witness Clark. Second, for purposes of determining whether or not the defendant himself made such statements to Joel Clark.”

Thereafter, out of the presence of the jury the court stated to defense counsel that it had purposely given the dual instruction in view of Oregon decisions with reference to Rule 63 (1) of Uniform Rules of Evidence (Rule 63 (1) is quoted in State v. Fennell, infra), and specifically cited State v. Fennell, 7 Or App 256, 489 P2d 964, Sup Ct review denied (1971).

In Fennell we held that evidence of an out-of-court identification was admissible under an excep[266]*266tion to the hearsay rule. A passage of that opinion not relied upon in reaching the result states:

“* * * In State v. Randolph, 251 Or 45, 444 P2d 545 (1968), the court noted that the testimony of a detective about an extrajudicial description by the victim of the defendant was hearsay and inadmissible. Then the court said:
“ ‘As a part of its argument the state urges in effect that we adopt Rule 63 (1) of the proposed Uniform Evidence Act.

Several weeks after we decided Fennell, in State v. Waites, 7 Or App 137, 490 P2d 188 (1971), we considered the admissibility of a prior consistent statement by the alleged victim in a statutory rape case:

“* * * In this case the out-of-court declarant, i.e., the prosecuting witness, was obviously ‘present at the hearing and available for cross examination.’ Thus Rule 63 (1) would permit Mrs. Bryan to testify to the full details of the September 18, 1969, conversation with the prosecuting witness.
[267]*267“It has been pointed out that the law in Oregon is not in accord with the proposed Uniform Rule. See, Swearingen, How the Adoption of the Uniform Rules of Evidence Would Affect the Law of Evidence in Oregon: Rules 62-66, 42 Or L Rev 200 (1963), and cases cited therein. More recently, our Supreme Court has stated:
“[See quotation in State v. Fennell, supra, from State v. Randolph, supra.]
“We quoted this same passage from Randolph in State v. Fennell, 7 Or App 256, 489 P2d 964, Sup Ct review denied (1971), and noted that the Randolph decision left the question of whether Rule 63 (1) is or is not the law of Oregon in doubt. As doubtful as the question remains, we now conclude that the quoted passage from Randolph cannot be interpreted as meaning our Supreme Court has adopted the proposed Bule, and thus by silent implication overruled numerous of its prior decisions. Therefore, we follow those prior decisions. See, 42 Or L Rev 200, supra, at 201-02.” (Footnote omitted.) 7 Or App at 142-43.

Preliminarily, it should be noted that there is no apparent conflict between Rule 63 (1) and the “confrontation” clauses of the U.S. Constitution. Nelson v. O’Neil, 402 US 622, 91 S Ct 1723, 29 L Ed 2d 222 (1971); California v. Green, 399 US 149, 90 S Ct 1930, 26 L Ed 2d 489 (1970).

In light of two recent Oregon Supreme Court decisions our rejection of Rule 63 (1) in Waites may have been premature.

In Sheedy v. Stall, 255 Or 594, 468 P2d 529 (1970), decided before we decided Waites but overlooked by this court therein, the court stated:

“The correct application of the rule that hearsay evidence is not admissible is one of the most difficult tasks in the law. An examination of the [268]*268

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Related

State v. Allen
551 P.2d 120 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1976)
Oregon v. Derryberry
528 P.2d 1034 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1974)
State v. Lewis
524 P.2d 546 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1974)

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Bluebook (online)
521 P.2d 1065, 17 Or. App. 262, 1974 Ore. App. LEXIS 1063, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-derryberry-orctapp-1974.