State v. Hoffman

385 P.2d 741, 236 Or. 98, 1963 Ore. LEXIS 362
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 17, 1963
StatusPublished
Cited by60 cases

This text of 385 P.2d 741 (State v. Hoffman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Hoffman, 385 P.2d 741, 236 Or. 98, 1963 Ore. LEXIS 362 (Or. 1963).

Opinion

PERRY, J.

The defendant was indicted in two counts for the crimes of statutory rape and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. A jury acquitted the defendant of the crime of statutory rape and returned a verdict of guilty on the contributing charge. From the verdict of guilty the defendant appeals.

The defendant contends that since the jury acquitted him of the crime of statutory rape, and that *101 ■act is the act relied upon as the act manifestly tending to cause the minor child’s delinquency, this acquittal is res judicata of the facts relied upon to sustain the guilty verdict returned.

Two separate and distinct statutory offenses are alleged in the indictment, though they arise out of the same occasion. The contention of the defendant, to he sustained, must rest upon the proposition that all the facts offered in an attempt to establish the offense of statutory rape on this occasion were by the verdict of not guilty decided favorably to the defendant. This is not the law, as pointed out by this court in State of Oregon v. Dewey, 206 Or 496, 292 P2d 799. We quoted with approval, as follows:

“* * * ‘the previous judgment is conclusive only as to those matters which were in fact in issue and actually or necessarily adjudicated. Thus an acquittal of the charge of seduction does not adjudicate the question of sexual intercourse although that was one of the issues in the case, since the acquittal might have been due to the failure to establish other facts essential to a conviction.’ 2 Freeman on Judgments (5th ed) 1365 § 648. See, also, Dangel, Criminal Law 351; Harris v. State, 193 Ga 109, 17 SE2d 573, 147 ALR 980; State v. Barton, 5 Wash2d 234, 105 P2d 63; Sealfon v. United States, 332 US 575, 92 L ed 180, 68 S Ct 237; United States v. Meyerson, 24 F2d 855; United States v. Morse, 24 F2d 1001; State v. Erwin, 101 Utah 365, 120 P2d 285; Bell v. State, 57 Md 108; State v. Coblentz, 169 Md 159, 180 A 266.” (206 Or 496 at 508.)

The statutory rape indictment charges the defendant with carnal knowledge of the minor. The contributing count in the charging part is as follows: * * to-wit, did then and there place his private parts on, *102 against and into the private parts” of the minor. The contributing count thus charges two acts; placing his private parts upon and against the private parts of the female child, and also penetration of her body.

Proof of some penetration is a necessary element of statutory rape. State v. Poole, 161 Or 481, 90 P2d 472. And a specific intent to penetrate the body of the female is a necessary ingredient of any lesser included offense in that crime or of the crime attempt to rape. State of Oregon v. Moore, 194 Or 232, 241 P2d 455; State v. Olsen, 138 Or 666, 7 P2d 792.

ORS 167.210 which defines the crime of contributing to the delinquency of a child nowhere requires proof of a specific intent to cause the child to become a delinquent child, even though that intent may exist. Proof only of the doing of an act which is such that it manifestly tends toward causing the child to become delinquent is all that is required.

We held in State v. Casson, 223 Or 421, 354 P2d 815, that where the state elects to charge a defendant with contributing to the delinquency of a minor by “separate and distinct acts laid under a videlicet, ‘to-wit:’,” each act standing alone, if proven, must be sufficient to sustain a verdict of guilty.

Proof of the defendant placing his private parts upon and against those of the minor child, standing alone, would suffice to sustain a verdict of guilty of contributing. But this act alone, as pointed out, would not require a conviction for rape or necessarily its lesser included offense or the crime attempt to rape.

The jury could have concluded that the defendant did the first act charged in the contributing count, but neither did nor intended to go further, and thus did acquit the defendant. We cannot therefore say the jury decided the placing fact in favor of the de *103 fendant. We conclude the defendant’s contention is without merit.

The defendant also contends that the trial court erred in proceeding under the enhanced penalty act before sentencing the defendant for the crime of contributing of which he was convicted. This same contention was made under a prior act, OCLA 26-2801 to 26-2804, and found without merit. State v. Durham, 177 Or 574, 164 P2d 448,162 ALR 422. The defendant contends, however, the 1961 amendment to OES Chapter 168 was intended to change the law in this respect. His principal reliance seems to be upon the use of the word “adjudication” in OES 168.015 which does not appear in the former act.

The word “adjudication” in its strict judicial sense is generally held to imply a final judgment of the court, that is, it involves an exercise of the judicial power in hearing and determining the issues and rendering a judgment thereon. 2 CJS, Adjudication, page 49. This statute insofar as material is as follows:

“(1) ‘Conviction’ means an adjudication of guilt upon a plea, verdict or finding in a criminal proceeding in a court of competent jurisdiction, but ‘conviction’ does not include an adjudication which has been expunged by pardon, reversed, set aside or otherwise rendered nugatory.
“(2) ‘Principal offense’ means the offense upon conviction of which a court may impose an enhanced penalty based upon former conviction of an offense. ‘Principal felony’ means a principal offense that is a felony.
«* * * * *” OES 168.015.

It will be noted the word “adjudication” in the definition of conviction refers to prior crimes, as .it limits the prior conviction to be considered as enhancing the *104 penalty for the subsequent conviction, or principal offense, to those adjudications which have not been expunged or rendered nugatory.

Paragraph (2) makes no reference to an “adjudication” in any manner as to the principal offense. Principal offense is defined as a conviction in a present action which will authorize the court to impose an enhanced penalty. Thus it refers to the finding of guilt either by plea in open court or the verdict of the jury in a matter then pending. Conviction, when used in this sense, is to designate a particular stage in a criminal prosecution where the guilt of the defendant has been established. Commonwealth v. Lockwood, 109 Mass 323, 12 Am Rep 699; In re Anderson, 34 Cal App2d 48, 92 P2d 1020; Attorney General ex rel O’Hara v. Montgomery, 275 Mich 504, 267 NW 550. Paragraph (2) clearly shows the intent of the act to be that the sentence upon the principal offense should be pronounced according to the law applicable to the facts found by the court as to prior convictions. This could not be done until the supplementary proceedings provided by the act had been heard and determined.

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Bluebook (online)
385 P.2d 741, 236 Or. 98, 1963 Ore. LEXIS 362, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hoffman-or-1963.