State v. Garcia

377 P.3d 596, 278 Or. App. 639, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 723
CourtMultnomah County Circuit Court, Oregon
DecidedJune 8, 2016
Docket120545265; A152842
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 377 P.3d 596 (State v. Garcia) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Multnomah County Circuit Court, Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Garcia, 377 P.3d 596, 278 Or. App. 639, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 723 (Or. Super. Ct. 2016).

Opinion

DUNCAN, P. J.

Defendant appeals the trial court’s judgment convicting her of interfering with a peace officer (IPO). The IPO statute, ORS 162.247,1 provides that it “does not apply in situations in which the person is engaging in * * * activity that would constitute resisting arrest under ORS 162.315 [,]”2 On appeal, defendant asserts that the trial court erred by submitting the IPO count to the jury, because the state had charged her with IPO and resisting arrest based on the same conduct. For the reasons explained below, we agree, and, therefore, we reverse defendant’s IPO conviction.

[641]*641HISTORICAL AND PROCEDURAL FACTS

Defendant and her boyfriend, Storaasli, participated in a political march in Portland. After the marchers’ permit expired, police officers ordered the marchers to move out of the street. Storaasli did not obey the order and officers attempted to take him into custody. After the officers brought Storaasli to the ground, defendant ran toward him. One of the officers punched defendant in the chest. Defendant fell to the ground, got up, and continued toward Storaasli. Defendant jumped on Storaasli and wrapped her arms around him. The officers ordered defendant to “let go” of Storaasli, but she did not. Eventually, the officers were able to separate defendant from Storaasli and arrest both of them.

The state charged defendant with one count of second-degree disorderly conduct (Count 1), ORS 166.025, two counts of interfering with a peace officer (Counts 2 and 3), ORS 162.247, and one count of resisting arrest, ORS 162.315 (Count 4).

The two IPO counts were based on different paragraphs of the IPO statute. Count 2 was based on ORS 162.247(l)(b) and alleged that defendant “knowingly refuse[d] to obey a lawful order of [o]fficers.” Count 3 was based on ORS 162.247(l)(a) and alleged that defendant “intentionally attempt [ed] to prevent [o]fficers *** from performing the officers’ lawful duties with regard to another person [.]” The counts did not specify the conduct upon which they were based. Count 2 did not identify the “lawful order” that defendant had refused to obey, and Count 3 did not identify the “lawful duties” that defendant had interfered with.

The resisting arrest count alleged that defendant “intentionally resist [ed] [o] fficers * * * in making an arrest [.] ” It did not specify whose arrest.

At trial, the state’s witnesses testified to the events described above. Through their testimony, it became clear that the two IPO counts and the resisting arrest count were based on the same conduct: defendant’s intervention into Storaasli’s arrest. The state’s theory on the first IPO count, [642]*642Count 2, was that defendant had refused the officers’ order to “let go” of Storaasli. Its theory on the second IPO count, Count 3, was that defendant had interfered with the officers’ lawful duties to arrest Storaasli. And, its theory on the resisting arrest count, Count 4, was that defendant had resisted Storaasli’s arrest, not her own. Regarding defendant’s interference, one officer testified that he believed defendant had been trying to stop Storaasli’s arrest and that he perceived her actions as “resisting] arrest.” Another officer testified that, at one point, defendant yelled for other marchers to help her “unarrest” Storaasli. Both officers testified that defendant’s actions prevented them from taking Storaasli into custody.

After the state presented its case-in-chief, defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal on the disorderly conduct count, Count 1, and the trial court granted the motion. Defendant also moved for a judgment of acquittal on the IPO counts, Counts 2 and 3. As noted, the crime of IPO is defined by ORS 162.247, which provides, in part:

“(3) This section does not apply in situations in which the person is engaging in:
“(a) Activity that would constitute resisting arrest under ORS 162.315; or
“(b) Passive resistance.”

Defendant argued that the trial court should not submit the IPO counts to the jury because the conduct upon which they were based constituted resisting arrest and passive resistance. Referring to both ORS 162.247(3)(a) and (b), she argued,

“[U]nder both of these sections * * * the IPO statute * * * does not apply. The primary argument would be in subsection (3)([a]) that the State is, in fact, alleging that she is resisting arrest. I asked both officers specifically that specific language, this situation where she was engaging in this interference with your duties to Mr. Storaasli, was this an attempt to stop the arrest of Mr. Storaasli? And both witnesses affirmed this is the situation, this was all related to an attempt in their version for Mr. Storaalsi’s arrest to be stopped by [defendant], her efforts to do that. And in this case the section simply does not apply.
[643]*643“So for both of those counts, Your Honor, I would argue that the Court should not allow a jury to determine that, when the State’s theory is that she was attempting to resist Mr. Storaaslifs] arrest.”

In response, the state argued that the trial court should submit the IPO counts to the jury, even though they were based on the same conduct as the resisting arrest count. The state suggested that, if the jury found defendant guilty of the IPO counts and the resisting arrest count, there might be a “potential merger, or a potential sentencing issue.” But, the state contended, “[i]f they find all three, find one not the other, that’s a bridge we will have to cross when we get to the verdict.”

The trial court denied defendant’s motion.

After defendant presented her case, she renewed her motion for judgment of acquittal on the IPO counts, asserting:

“[T]he State wants to say [defendant] committed the crime of interfering with a peace officer, and has resisted arrest in the same situation.
“So, essentially, they are trying to prove both, and it goes to the idea that the State has to prove—the State has to choose at least their theory of the case. What the state is attempting to prove is * * * there was this resisting activity ongoing. But then they are also trying to prove that during that time period she failed to obey a lawful order and was interfering with the arrest of another person.”

Defendant continued:

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Related

State v. Kountz
452 P.3d 993 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2019)
State v. Garcia
Oregon Supreme Court, 2017
State v. Kountz
379 P.3d 664 (Multnomah County Circuit Court, Oregon, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
377 P.3d 596, 278 Or. App. 639, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 723, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-garcia-orccmultnomah-2016.