State v. Harding

202 P.3d 181, 225 Or. App. 386, 2009 Ore. App. LEXIS 53
Court of Appeals of Oregon·Decided January 28, 2009·No. 970432879, A133051·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

*388 BREWER, C. J.

The state petitions for reconsideration of our decision in State v. Harding, 222 Or App 415, 193 P3d 1055 (2008), arguing that reconsideration is warranted under ORAP 6.25(l)(a) and (e) (concerning a claim of factual error in the decision and a claim that the court erred in construing or applying the law respectively). Because the state identifies no purported factual error in our decision, we understand the state to be suggesting that we erred in applying the law to the facts in this case. In particular, the state argues that we erroneously rejected the trial court’s conclusion that it lacked jurisdiction to consider one of defendant’s claims for relief under ORS 138.083, that we improperly framed the issue on appeal as whether the judgment contained an erroneous term, and that, when the issue is properly framed as whether the sentence imposed is per se an “erroneous term,” then it becomes clear that defendant is not entitled to relief.

The state misunderstands the scope of our prior decision; as we explain below, we adhere to our narrow decision that the trial court erred in determining that it lacked jurisdiction to consider defendant’s claim of error, and emphasize that our decision was not, as the state seems to believe, that defendant received an “erroneous” sentence or that defendant is entitled to the relief he has sought in this proceeding. Rather, we remanded for the trial court to consider the merits of defendant’s claim in the first instance.

We first recount the pertinent parts of our prior decision. Defendant, who was convicted in 1999 of multiple offenses, petitioned the trial court, pursuant to ORS 138.083(l)(a), to correct certain alleged “erroneous terms” in his sentence. That occurred after defendant had unsuccessfully pursued a direct appeal, and after an appellate judgment affirming his convictions had issued. Id. at 417. In his ORS 138.083 motion, defendant made two arguments: first, that the judgment had erroneously indicated that he could not be considered for alternative programming, and second, that the judgment had erroneously imposed an upward departure sentence based on judicial factfinding, in violation of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution as interpreted in Blakely v. Washington, 542 US 296, 124 S Ct *389 2531, 159 L Ed 2d 403 (2004). Harding, 222 Or App at 417. The trial court concluded that it could, and should, correct the first asserted error, but, as to the second asserted error, the court concluded that it “lack[ed] jurisdiction under ORS 138.083(1) to consider defendant’s claim of error.” The amended judgment specified, in support of the court’s imposition of the upward durational departure sentence, that “the court finds substantial and compelling reasons as stated in the record for this departure; 1. Persistent involvement in similar offenses, 2. On supervision at the time of this offense, 3. Use of a weapon[.]”

Defendant appealed from the amended judgment, arguing that the trial court erred in concluding that it lacked jurisdiction to consider defendant’s argument concerning the imposition of the departure sentence. We agreed. We also rejected the state’s arguments on appeal that the amended judgment was not appealable, that the issue raised was not reviewable, and that the asserted error was not preserved. Id. at 419-21. We rejected the trial court’s reasoning that it lacked authority to modify the sentence because it had been “executed,” noting that ORS 138.083 provides an exception to the common-law rule that a court lacks authority to modify an “executed” sentence. Id. at 421.

Finally, we stated that “a departure sentence that is based on judicial findings of fact may constitute an ‘erroneous term in the judgment[.]’ ” Id. (quoting ORS 138.083(1)). We thus concluded that the court did not lack “jurisdiction to consider defendant’s motion.” Id. We went on to emphasize that, “even assuming that the departure sentence constitutes an erroneous term,” ORS 138.083 would not require the court to correct such an error, given the discretionary nature of the trial court’s error-modification authority under that statute. Id.

On reconsideration, most of what the state appears to take issue with is our final conclusion described above— that the trial court had authority to consider defendant’s argument. As an initial matter, we note that the vast majority of the state’s arguments on reconsideration (1) were not made in its respondent’s brief on appeal, and (2) at best, constitute reasons why the trial court should not exercise its *390 discretion to grant relief under the circumstances of this case. None of the state’s arguments is well taken.

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State v. Harding, 202 P.3d 181, 225 Or. App. 386, 2009 Ore. App. LEXIS 53 (Or. Ct. App. 2009).

202 P.3d 181 (State v. Harding) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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