State v. Herrera

383 P.3d 301, 280 Or. App. 830, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 1073
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedSeptember 8, 2016
Docket1002199CR; A152941
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 383 P.3d 301 (State v. Herrera) 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. Herrera, 383 P.3d 301, 280 Or. App. 830, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 1073 (Or. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

HASELTON, S. J.

Defendant appeals a judgment of conviction for unlawful possession of methamphetamine, ORS 475.894, assigning error to the entry of that judgment after the revocation of conditional discharge, ORS 475.245. Invoking State v. Granberry, 260 Or App 15, 316 P3d 363 (2013), defendant raises an unpreserved claim that, because the state did not initiate revocation proceedings before the expiration of the period of conditional discharge, the trial court lacked authority to enter the judgment of conviction.1 The state does not dispute the substance of defendant’s contention under Granberry but, instead, remonstrates that ORS 138.050 precludes our consideration of that challenge. In reply, defendant asserts that ORS 138.053(3), an explicit exception to ORS 138.050, confers appellate jurisdiction. For the reasons that follow, we conclude that, in these circumstances, ORS 138.053(3) is inapposite and, thus, that ORS 138.050 controls. Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal.

The circumstances germane to our putative consideration are undisputed. In September 2010, defendant was charged with one count of possession of a controlled substance (PCS), methamphetamine, and one count of driving under the influence of intoxicants, ORS 813.010. On September 27, 2010, defendant pleaded guilty to the PCS charge. Shortly thereafter, on October 18, 2010, the trial court entered a “Judgment of Conditional Discharge,” pursuant to ORS 475.245.2 That “judgment provided,” in part, that, based on [833]*833defendant’s guilty plea, “defendant be convicted” of the PCS charge, but that “[t]he conviction shall not be entered pending defendant’s participation in the Klamath County Drug Court program.” The judgment of conditional discharge further placed defendant on probation for “the presumptive probationary period of 18 months” — that is, until April 18, 2012 — and specified that “[u]pon satisfactory completion of all conditions of the [county drug court] program and of supervision, including payment of all fees and completion of the required treatment program, the conviction herein shall be set aside by the court and the case shall be dismissed with prejudice [.]” Conversely, “[i]n the event the defendant is unsuccessfully terminated, the conviction herein shall be entered of record, and the defendant shall be placed on formal probation for_months or a prison sentence may be imposed if appropriate, subject to (but not limited to) [specified] conditions.”3 (Blank space in original.)

Beginning in the spring of 2011, defendant periodically violated the terms of conditional discharge. Specifically, beginning in May 2011, and on several occasions during the balance of 2011, the trial court imposed five-day jail sanctions for violations of probation. However, the court did not extend defendant’s period of probation under the judgment of conditional discharge or enter an adjudication of guilt as permitted under ORS 475.245 and the conditional discharge judgment.

In the winter and spring of 2012, defendant apparently continued to appear at drug court hearings pursuant to the terms of his conditional discharge. On April 18, 2012, the period of probation under the conditional discharge judgment expired. However, it does not appear that either the [834]*834state or defendant acted in response to that circumstance— including, e.g., the state, by moving before April 18 to extend or revoke probation, or defendant, by moving after April 18 for dismissal of the PCS charge.

Thereafter, on May 14, the trial court — without any objection from defendant — imposed a 10-day jail sanction for noncompliance (nonattendance for treatment programs) that occurred after April 18. On July 9, 2012, defendant apparently failed to appear for a drug court hearing, and the court stated that it was considering terminating the conditional discharge.

Ultimately, on September 11, 2012, the court determined to terminate the conditional discharge based on defendant’s noncompliance and, consequently, to enter a judgment of conviction for PCS and impose sentence. In doing so, the court acknowledged that the 18-month probationary term had expired and expressed its view that that circumstance neither precluded the court from entering a judgment of conviction predicated on defendant’s guilty plea (“I don’t doubt that the Court retains the authority to enter the conviction”) nor from imposing sentence on that conviction. Defense counsel did not object to the entry of the judgment of conviction as being precluded by the previous expiration of the term of probation prescribed under the judgment of conditional discharge.4

The trial court subsequently entered the judgment from which defendant appeals. As pertinent, that judgment states that defendant “is found in violation of the Conditional Discharge previously granted” and that, consequently, the “Conditional Discharge is hereby revoked and a conviction entered,” with defendant placed on probation for 18 months.

On appeal, defendant assigns error exclusively to the trial court’s entry of the judgment of conviction for PCS. As noted, that claim of error is predicated on Granberry.

[835]*835In Granberry, the defendant pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance and, pursuant to a conditional discharge agreement, was placed on probation for two years, with that term ending on February 6, 2009. 260 Or App at 16. On March 20, 2009, after the term of probation, the state filed a motion for an order to show cause why the court should not enter a conviction on the PCS charge based on the defendant’s guilty plea, asserting, inter alia, that in October 2008, during the conditional discharge probationary period, the defendant had been convicted of other crimes. Id. at 17. In response, the defendant asserted that, because the state had failed to initiate proceedings, based on the purported violation, before the probationary period expired, “the court was required to treat defendant as having fulfilled the terms of her probation and, thus, to dismiss the drug-possession charge pursuant to ORS 475.245 and the conditional-discharge agreement.” Id.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Long-Ellis
543 P.3d 761 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2024)
State v. Colgrove
521 P.3d 456 (Oregon Supreme Court, 2022)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
383 P.3d 301, 280 Or. App. 830, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 1073, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-herrera-orctapp-2016.