State v. Dugan

34 P.3d 726, 177 Or. App. 545, 2001 Ore. App. LEXIS 1622
Court of Appeals of Oregon·Decided October 31, 2001·No. 99-07-35244; A109737·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

LINDER, J.

Defendant appeals his convictions of attempted kidnapping in the first degree with a firearm, ORS 163.235(l)(d), unlawful use of a weapon, ORS 166.220(l)(a), and menacing, ORS 163.190(1). We write primarily to address defendant’s first assignment of error, in which he challenges the trial court’s decision to exclude evidence of defendant’s character for truthfulness, nonviolence, and being a law abiding citizen.1 Also, we accept the state’s concession that the evidence was not sufficient to support a finding of guilt on attempted kidnapping in the first degree, which is the basis for defendant’s second assignment of error. We affirm in part, vacate the judgment of conviction of attempted kidnapping in the first degree with a firearm, and remand with instructions.

The facts are largely undisputed. On July 8, 1999, the victim was waiting for a bus on the eastbound side of Northwest St. Helens Road. After passing the bus stop in the westbound lane, defendant pulled his truck up alongside the area where the victim was standing and pretended to be in need of directions, although he later testified he was “basically trying to pick up on [the victim].” The victim approached defendant’s truck and, after determining that she was not able to help defendant, returned to the area where she had been waiting for the bus, near the rear of defendant’s truck. Defendant put his truck in reverse and rolled backward until the cab of his truck was again even with where the victim stood.

The parties presented conflicting accounts about what happened next. The victim testified that defendant said “[e]xcuse me, one last thing,” pulled a revolver from underneath a shirt on the seat next to him, pointed it at her face, and ordered her into the truck. Upon seeing the gun, the victim ran away, screaming and flailing her arms in an attempt to stop a passing vehicle. Defendant, in contrast, testified that, due to his work as a carpenter, the front seat of his truck was cluttered with tools and, rather than reaching for a gun, [548] he was simply clearing the seat as he invited the victim to enter his truck. Defendant testified that he could not understand why the victim ran screaming from his truck.

Two cars stopped to offer the victim assistance. One car, occupied by witnesses Taggart and Becker, pulled over directly behind defendant’s truck. Aware that something unusual was happening, Becker wrote down defendant’s license plate number. Defendant attempted to wave Taggart and Becker past him. When they remained, defendant drove away.

Detective Law was assigned to investigate the incident. After a record check with Driver and Motor Vehicle Services, Law identified defendant as a suspect and contacted him for questioning. At their first meeting, defendant stated that he was not sure where he was on July 8,1999, but he believed that he could have been flying. A check with the airport revealed that defendant had been flying on July 9 but not July 8. Defendant then told Law that he may have been coming from a remodeling job near North Lombard in Portland but was “absolutely not” involved in the July 8 incident.

Defendant was subsequently taken into custody and charged with attempted kidnapping in the first degree with a firearm, unlawful use of a weapon, and menacing. Defendant’s first trial ended with a hung jury. At his second trial, which is the subject of this appeal, defendant sought to introduce evidence of his character for truthfulness, claiming that the state intended to attack his credibility. The trial court denied defendant’s request, concluding that defendant could not offer such evidence until his character for truthfulness had been attacked.

At the close of the state’s case, defendant again sought to introduce evidence of his character for truthfulness, which the court again denied. At that point, defendant made an offer of proof. Defense counsel stated that each of defendant’s character witnesses would testify to defendant’s “law abiding nature [,] nonviolent nature [,] [and] reputation for truthfulness and trustworthiness.” The state stipulated to [549] the contents of the offer of proof. The jury convicted defendant, and defendant appeals, challenging the trial court’s ruling excluding his proffered character evidence.2

We review the trial court’s decision to exclude character evidence for abuse of discretion, State v. Peoples, 146 Or App 565, 567, 934 P2d 599 (1997), mindful that, if any portion of defendant’s offer of proof was inadmissible, it was not error to exclude the whole. State v. Thomas, 149 Or App 557, 560-61, 945 P2d 1056 (1997). The state agrees that evidence of defendant’s character for law abidingness and nonviolence would be admissible if offered in the form of opinion or reputation evidence. Because defendant’s offer of proof sought to admit all three forms of character evidence in an undifferentiated fashion, our inquiry focuses on whether evidence of defendant’s character for truthfulness was admissible. For the following reasons, we conclude that it was not.

Our inquiry in this case is governed by OEC 608, which provides, in relevant part:

“(1) The credibility of a witness may be attacked or supported by evidence in the form of opinion or reputation, but:
"* * * * *
“(b) Evidence of truthful character is admissible only after the character of the witness for truthfulness has been attacked by opinion or reputation evidence or otherwise.”

Thus, a defendant may not introduce evidence in support of his or her character for truthfulness unless it has first been attacked in the manner specified in subsection (b).

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State v. Dugan, 34 P.3d 726, 177 Or. App. 545, 2001 Ore. App. LEXIS 1622 (Or. Ct. App. 2001).

34 P.3d 726 (State v. Dugan) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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