State v. Fox

995 P.2d 1193, 165 Or. App. 289, 2000 Ore. App. LEXIS 118
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJanuary 26, 2000
Docket97-00078CR; CA A99979
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 995 P.2d 1193 (State v. Fox) 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. Fox, 995 P.2d 1193, 165 Or. App. 289, 2000 Ore. App. LEXIS 118 (Or. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

*291 BREWER, J.

Defendant appeals from his conviction for possession of a controlled substance. ORS 475.992(4)(b). He asserts that the trial court improperly denied his motion to suppress based solely on his failure to appear at the time set for hearing of the motion. We review for errors of law and vacate and remand.

Following his arrest, defendant executed a pretrial conditional release agreement in which he agreed “to appear at all times and places as ordered by any Court having jurisdiction[.]” The agreement stated that should defendant violate any of its conditions, the court could revoke his release, issue a warrant for his arrest, and charge him with contempt. Before trial, defendant filed a motion to suppress physical evidence seized by the police. The trial court set the motion for hearing, and defendant was notified of the hearing through counsel. Counsel for defendant and the state appeared and were prepared to proceed with the motion to suppress but defendant failed to appear. The trial court summarily denied defendant’s motion, based solely on his failure to appear, without taking evidence or making a ruling on the merits of the motion. The record does not disclose that any action was taken against defendant under the release agreement based on his failure to appear.

Defendant appeared for trial. Immediately before the commencement of trial, the court conducted a Jackson! Denno hearing, 1 at the state’s instance, to determine the admissibility of statements defendant made to the police. The court ruled that defendant’s statements were admissible. 2 Defendant then decided to waive his right to a jury trial and to proceed to trial on stipulated facts. During a colloquy with the trial court about his decision to waive jury trial, defendant twice asked the court whether he could appeal the denial of his motion to suppress. The trial court responded affirmatively. During the same colloquy and immediately prior to the stipulated facts trial, the following separate *292 exchanges also took place between the trial court and defendant’s attorney:

“THE COURT: You can file an appeal on all the decisions that I make in the case including my denial of your motion to suppress in case you didn’t, weren’t here. Because you can appeal that.
“[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: * * * I just want to make sure we preserve that issue, that we do object to your decision not to allow him to proceed with his motion to suppress because he didn’t appear at the time it was scheduled. * * *.
“THE COURT: * * * [A]nything you’d like on the record before we proceed?
“[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: No. Only that we would renew our — I would make a record and object to the Court’s refusal to allow us to have the motion to suppress because [defendant] did not appear. We would object to the Court exercising its authority in that manner.”

Defendant appeals from his ensuing conviction.

Defendant assigns error to the trial court’s summary denial of his motion to suppress. He argues that the trial comí; erred because it based the ruling solely on his failure to appear at the scheduled suppression hearing. The state responds that defendant’s failure to appear on the date set for hearing “disentitle^]” him to a hearing on the merits. The state further argues that defendant failed to renew the motion before trial and that his assignment of error is not preserved for appeal. We review for errors of law. ORS 138.220; State v. Cocke, 161 Or App 179, 181, 984 P2d 321 (1999).

The court is required to order a suppression hearing on motion of either party. ORS 135.037; 3 State v. Caruso, 43 *293 Or App 405, 408, 602 P2d 1135 (1979), rev’d on other grounds 289 Or 315, 613 P2d 752 (1980) (“[t]he trial court’s obligation to hold an omnibus hearing upon the request of a party is absolute”); State v. Lewis, 39 Or App 151, 154, 591 P2d 414 (1979) (“[t]he language of the statute is mandatory”). We have previously considered the ramifications of a defendant’s failure to appear at a suppression hearing and concluded that such conduct does not empower the trial court to refuse to hold the hearing. State v. Desirey, 99 Or App 283, 782 P2d 429 (1989). In Desirey, the defendant failed to appear at the time set for a hearing on her motion to suppress. The trial court struck the motion. In a later court appearance, the defendant sought to renew the motion, but the trial court ruled that she had waived her right to an omnibus hearing. Id. at 285. We reversed, holding that

“[t]he court could have decided the motion in defendant’s absence, but it did not have the authority to refuse to consider it. Moreover, even though she may have waived her right to be present, there is no evidence in the record that would support a finding that defendant’s failure to appear constituted a waiver of her right to a hearing on the matter.” Id.

Despite our decision in Desirey, the state urges that defendant’s failure to appear “disentitled” him to a decision on the merits. The state argues that the trial court properly denied the motion because, among other reasons, defendant’s failure to appear violated the terms of his release agreement. We disagree. We note first that, in its order denying the motion, the trial court did not refer to the release agreement. Furthermore, the terms of defendant’s release agreement provided remedies should he fail to appear: revocation of pretrial release, issuance of an arrest warrant, and a charge of contempt. Apparently, none of those remedies were pursued. The agreement did not specify that failure to appear would result in disentitlement to a statutorily mandated suppression hearing, even if it could have done so. Therefore, defendant’s violation of the release agreement did not disentitle him to a hearing on his motion. See State v. Peters, 119 Or App 269, 274, 850 P2d 393 (1993) (defendant, who acknowledged in release agreement that consequence of failure to *294 appear would be trial in absentia, surrendered right to appear at trial by failing to appear).

No existing authority supports application of the state’s disentitlement theory in circumstances such as these. The only case on which the state relies is State v. Smith, 312 Or 561, 822 P2d 1193 (1992), in which the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal of a defendant who absconded from probation supervision.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
995 P.2d 1193, 165 Or. App. 289, 2000 Ore. App. LEXIS 118, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-fox-orctapp-2000.