State v. Kautz

39 P.3d 937, 179 Or. App. 458, 2002 Ore. App. LEXIS 186
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedFebruary 13, 2002
DocketD9708187M, D9708211M, D9708439M, C973596CR, C973597CR, C980503CR, C980504CR, C980338CR A102986 (Control), A102987, A102988, A103386, A103387, A103388, A103389, A103822
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 39 P.3d 937 (State v. Kautz) 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. Kautz, 39 P.3d 937, 179 Or. App. 458, 2002 Ore. App. LEXIS 186 (Or. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

*460 EDMONDS, P. J.

In this criminal case, defendant appeals from a conviction for burglary in the first degree, ORS 164.215 (the Osman burglary), arguing that his conduct constituted only second-degree burglary. He also assigns error to the court’s refusal to follow the “shift to column I” rule when it imposed consecutive sentences for a second burglary conviction and robbery conviction (the Whitehead burglary). OAR 213-012-0020. We affirm defendant’s convictions 1 and remand for resentencing.

The facts in this case arise from a crime spree that occurred during a weekend in December 1997. As a result, defendant was charged with committing multiple crimes, including burglaries and thefts from vehicles, garages and yards in a certain neighborhood. As pertinent to this appeal, 2 defendant entered a workshop that belonged to the Whitehead family, and that was located near their home. He rummaged through the contents of the shop, took some personal property, including a shotgun, from the workshop, put the items inside a car located in the workshop, and then drove the car out of the workshop into a hedge. Whitehead saw defendant taking the car. He grabbed a gun and pointed it at the car and defendant, demanding that defendant stop. In response, defendant immediately pointed the shotgun that he had just stolen at Whitehead, and told him to ‘hack off.” Defendant then got out of the car, ran through the hedge, and disappeared into a nearby field.

Many of Whitehead’s neighbors were aware of the criminal acts that had occurred earlier in the weekend and at the Whitehead residence. After the police failed to find defendant in the vicinity of the Whitehead residence, Osman, a neighbor of the Whiteheads, decided to check on a nearby house that he owned. Osman and his family had lived in the *461 house for many years but had moved out of the house six months before the crime spree. The house was listed for sale but was vacant at the time. However, Osman kept some tools and personal belongings in the house and worked there at least one day a week. The utilities were connected, and the house contained draperies, some tools, boots and other personal items that belonged to Osman and members of his family.

When Osman approached the house, he noticed items in the house that were not his. He immediately left and contacted the police. When officers arrived, they found defendant in the house, along with items stolen from various other property owners who lived nearby. Defendant was arrested and prosecuted under a 34-count indictment that included charges of burglary and robbery based on the incident with Whitehead and the burglary of the Osman house.

At trial, defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal on the Osman burglary charge. He argued that the evidence was insufficient to show that Osman’s house was a dwelling within the meaning of ORS 164.205(2), because the house had been vacant for six months before his entry and because his entry was unlikely to terrorize any occupant of the house.

The trial court held that the house was a dwelling. It ruled:

“What we have is a house that had been used as a dwelling for a significant period of time, in an area of dwellings, and that was being painted and fixed up for purposes of selling it to another owner. I think that it’s very similar to [State v. Ramey, 89 Or App 535, 749 P2d 1219, rev den 305 Or 577 (1988)], and so I’m going to deny the motion[.]”

ORS 164.215 provides that “a person commits the crime of burglary in the second degree if the person enters or remains unlawfully in a building with intent to commit a crime therein.” (Emphasis added.) ORS 164.225 provides that “[a] person commits the crime of burglary in the first degree if the person violates ORS 164.215 and the building is a dwellingü” ORS 164.205(1) defines “building” as “in addition to its ordinary meaning, * * * any booth, vehicle, boat, *462 aircraft or other structure adapted for overnight accommodation of persons or for carrying on business therein.” ORS 164.205(2) defines “dwelling” as “a building which regularly or intermittently is occupied by a person lodging therein at night, whether or not a person is actually present.” (Emphasis added.) Thus, a “building” becomes a “dwelling” for purposes of first-degree burglary if it is “regularly or intermittently occupied by a person lodging therein at night.”

The ordinary meaning of the word “intermittent” as used in the context of ORS 164.205(2) is that a building is “intermittently” occupied by a person lodging therein at night if it is occupied at night “at intervals” or with overnight occupancy that “comes and goes” or “ceases at intervals.” Webster’s Third New Int’l Dictionary, 1180 (unabridged ed 1993). The legislative commentary provides further definition. It states that the burglary statutes define “building” and “dwelling”

“to include those structures and vehicles which typically contain human beings for extended periods of time, in accordance with the original and basic rationale of the crime: protection against invasion of premises likely to terrorize occupants.” Commentary to Criminal Law Revision Commission Proposed Oregon Criminal Code, Final Draft and Report (July 1970), § 135.

We have applied that standard to a variety of situations that further inform the statutory distinction between a “building” and a “dwelling.” In State v. Eaton, 43 Or App 469, 471-72, 602 P2d 1150 (1979), rev den 288 Or 335 (1980), we held that a dormitory for students, occupied for eight weeks each year and burglarized six months after the last occupant left for the year, was not a dwelling. We said, “where an eight week period of occupancy is followed by 44 weeks of vacancy, and where the burglary occurred months after the last occupant left, we conclude that the structure is not used ‘regularly or intermittently.’ ” Id. at 472.

Conversely, we held in State v. McDonald, 77 Or App 267, 272-73, 712 P2d 163 (1986), that a 32-foot trailer, parked in the driveway of a residence, was a dwelling because it was used as an overnight accommodation several times a year. On the date of the burglary in McDonald, the trailer was to

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
39 P.3d 937, 179 Or. App. 458, 2002 Ore. App. LEXIS 186, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-kautz-orctapp-2002.