State v. G. L. D.

290 P.3d 852, 253 Or. App. 416
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedNovember 7, 2012
Docket4488J; 061609GLD4, 061609GLD5, 110909GLD6,110909GLD7,110909GLD8; A145535
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 290 P.3d 852 (State v. G. L. D.) 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. G. L. D., 290 P.3d 852, 253 Or. App. 416 (Or. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

NAKAMOTO, J.

Youth was adjudicated delinquent after he and two other youths broke into a high school, took computers, and set a fire. Youth appeals from the juvenile court’s judgment determining that he was within the jurisdiction of the court for committing acts that, if committed by an adult, would constitute one count of first-degree arson, ORS 164.325; one count of aggravated first-degree theft, ORS 164.057; two counts of second-degree burglary, ORS 164.215; and one count of first-degree criminal mischief, ORS 164.365. Youth also appeals from the juvenile court’s judgment of restitution of $194,579.92, which consisted almost entirely of amounts paid by several insurance companies due to damage and losses that the youths caused. Youth contends that (1) the juvenile court erred in failing to merge the adjudications on his two counts of second-degree burglary under ORS 161.067(3); (2) the state did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the value of the stolen computers was in the amount of $10,000 or more, as required for aggravated first-degree theft; and (3) insurance companies are not “victims” under ORS 419A.004(31) for purposes of restitution. We affirm.1

We have discretion to review this case de novo. See ORS 19.415(3)(b) (“Upon an appeal in an equitable action or proceeding other than an appeal from a judgment in a proceeding for the termination of parental rights, the Court of Appeals * * * may try the case anew.”). Youth does not request that we review this case de novo, and we decline to exercise that discretion. See ORAP 5.40(8)(c) (we exercise de novo review “only in exceptional cases”). Accordingly, “we review the juvenile court’s legal conclusions for errors of law, but are bound by the court’s finding of historical fact so long as there is any evidence to support them.” State v. S.T.S., 236 Or App 646, 655, 238 P3d 53 (2010). When the juvenile court does not make findings of fact on disputed issues of fact, but there is evidence to support more than one [419]*419factual conclusion, we will presume that they were decided in a manner consistent with the juvenile court’s ultimate conclusion. Id.

I. FACTS

Youth was charged with acts that were committed on three successive nights in October 2009 at Pacific High School, but this appeal focuses on youth’s conduct on only one of the nights.2 On that night, youth was with TM and DW, two high school friends and witnesses at youth’s hearing. Youth drove them to a spot on County Shop Road, north of Pacific High School, late at night. Youth parked the car, and they walked along a trail that led to the high school. Once they reached the high school, they drank some beers and then walked over to the school’s woodshop classroom. TM kicked in the classroom door, and youth went inside along with his friends. In an adjacent computer lab, youth found 19 laptop computers, owned by the high school, and the woodshop teacher’s personal laptop computer.

From there, TM’s and DW’s testimony of the events diverged. According to TM, they loaded the computers into boxes, walked on the trail for 15 minutes back to County Shop Road, and put the computers in the car. All three youths then walked back to the woodshop classroom and poured paint thinner on the ground. Youth lit a piece of paper in TM’s hand, and TM threw the paper inside the classroom.

According to DW, he was not involved in setting the fire. He testified that, after they found the computers, youth and TM loaded the computers into boxes and placed them outside the classroom. Afterwards, only youth and TM went back into the building and decided to set the woodshop classroom on fire to “get rid of the evidence.” While DW was outside, youth and TM spread papers and poured paint thinner all over the classroom, and TM used a lighter to set the building on fire. Afterward, they picked up the boxes of computers and ran back to the car.

[420]*420As relevant to this appeal, the juvenile court held a hearing on a petition for jurisdiction over youth based on acts that, if committed by an adult, would constitute one count of arson, ORS 164.325; one count of aggravated first-degree theft, ORS 164.057; two counts of second-degree burglary, ORS 164.215; and one count of first-degree criminal mischief, ORS 164.365. At the hearing, in addition to the testimony of the state’s witnesses concerning youth’s commission of the acts alleged, the school district’s superintendent, Lane, testified as to the amount of property damage youth had caused at the high school. Lane testified that the total cost to repair the damages to the building and to replace the shop and computer lab equipment was $193,666.91. As to the stolen computers, Lane thought they were just one year old, but the manufacturer had discontinued the model. The receipt for the purchase of the 19 replacement computers, an upgraded model, showed that the cost was $26,124.43, plus another $1,981.89 for peripherals. Lane stated that he did not know the value of the old computers at the time they were stolen, but he estimated that the purchase price of each replacement was approximately $70 or $80 less than the purchase price of each stolen computer.

After the close of the state’s case, youth moved for a judgment of acquittal. Youth argued that the state had failed to meet its burden to prove that he committed aggravated first-degree theft because there was no evidence in the record that the market value of the stolen computers was $10,000 or more as required under ORS 164.057. Youth contended that, because the state failed to establish that the market value of the stolen computers could not be ascertained, the state could not rely on the value of the replacement computers to meet the statutory minimum in ORS 164.057 for aggravated first-degree theft. The juvenile court denied youth’s motion for a judgment of acquittal, ruling that the state had adduced sufficient evidence that the 19 laptops were worth “well over $10,000.” The court explained that, in light of year-to-year changes in computer products,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
290 P.3d 852, 253 Or. App. 416, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-g-l-d-orctapp-2012.