State v. King

373 P.3d 1205, 278 Or. App. 65, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 540
CourtCoos County Circuit Court, Oregon
DecidedMay 4, 2016
Docket12CR0819; A153512
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 373 P.3d 1205 (State v. King) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Coos 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. King, 373 P.3d 1205, 278 Or. App. 65, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 540 (Or. Super. Ct. 2016).

Opinions

EGAN, J.

Defendant appeals a judgment of conviction, following a bench trial, for the crime of luring a minor, ORS 167.057,1 assigning error to the denial of his motion for judgment of acquittal. Defendant contends that the text message that he sent to the victim did not contain an “explicit verbal description * * * of sexual conduct,” as required by ORS 167.057. We reject defendant’s argument, because we conclude that a reasonable factfinder could find that defendant used an “explicit verbal description * * * of sexual conduct” for the purpose of inducing a minor to engage in sexual conduct with him when he texted the victim, “I really wanna bang [you].” Accordingly, we affirm.

We view the evidence in the light most favorable to the state to determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proved beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. King, 307 Or 332, 339, 768 P2d 391 (1989); see also State v. Cunningham, 320 Or 47, 63, 880 P2d 431 (1994), cert den, 514 US 1005 (1995). The same standard of review is applied during a bench trial. State v. Rodriguez/Buck, 347 Or 46, 55, 217 P3d 659 (2009) (citing State v. Allison, 325 Or 585, 587-88, 941 P3d 1017 (1997)). In light of that standard, the facts material to our review are as follows.

Defendant, a 22-year-old male, met the 13-year-old female victim at a party. Defendant was aware that the victim was 13 years old at that time. A few months later, defendant and the victim met again—at that point defendant was 22 years old and the victim was 14 years old. Defendant gave the victim his cell phone number and they hugged.

Defendant and the victim began to text each other a few days after exchanging phone numbers. In the course of the text message conversations between defendant and the victim, defendant said the following to the victim:

[67]*67“[You are] such a cutie[.]
[[Image here]]
“[You] should come kick it *** with me[.] My friend is visiting from Ashland. [We’ve] been gettin[g] fu[]cked up. Lol.
‡‡‡‡
“[You] made me kinda horny the other day when [you] gave me a hug. Lol. I was like ugh. [I] don[’]t wanna [be] at work.
«⅝ * ⅜ * *
“[You are] way [too] sexy.
* * * *
“Yes [you are] trust me. Lol. I gotta try so hard [to] not get turned on whenever [I] see [you].
«⅜‡‡⅜⅜
“[You are] a major cutie.
«⅜⅜⅜⅜⅜
“ [You want to] swim with me? * * * I could pick [you] up.”

Then defendant and the victim engaged in the following conversation through text message:

“[Victim]: Hey are you 21 yet?
“ [Defendant]: Yeah [.]
“[Victim]: Do you care that I’m 14? Lol.
“[Defendant]: Do [you]?
“[Victim]: Well, if I were to do anything with you, if we got caught you could get in trouble [.] So, it really only matters if you care.
“[Defendant]: As long as we keep it secret [I]’m cool with it.
“ [Victim]: So [,] what would we do?
“[Defendant]: Anything [you] want. I really wanna bang [you]. no lie. Lol.
“[Victim]: Really? Why?
“[Defendant]: Cuz [you’re] fine.”

[68]*68Defendant was charged with luring a minor and waived a jury trial on that charge. At trial before the court, defendant conceded that “bang,” as used in his text message to the victim, is a common phrase for sexual intercourse. At the close of the state’s case-in-chief, defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal on the ground that the text message did not contain an explicit verbal description of sexual conduct, as required to convict him of violating ORS 167.057. The trial court denied the motion and returned a verdict of guilty.

On appeal, defendant reprises his contention that his text message did not contain an explicit verbal description of sexual conduct and, hence, that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a judgment of acquittal. The state responds that the trial court ruled correctly because defendant’s text message to the victim was an explicit verbal description of sexual conduct. We agree with the state.

At issue is the meaning of “explicit verbal description * * * of sexual conduct” as used in ORS 167.057. Defendant concedes that the text message—“Anything you want. I really wanna bang [you] ”—to the victim “was verbal and explicit.” However, he contends that “it was not a description.” (Emphasis in original.) Therefore, we must resolve what the legislature intended “description” to mean in ORS 167.057. State v. Jones, 223 Or App 611, 616, 196 P3d 97 (2008), rev den, 345 Or 618 (2009) (“[W]e first address *** question [s] of statutory interpretation, which we review for errors of law.”).

In interpreting a statute, we first look at the text and context of the statute, then consider legislative history if it appears useful to the court’s analysis. State v. Gaines, 346 Or 160, 206 P3d 1042 (2009); PGE v. Bureau of Labor and Industries, 317 Or 606, 610-12, 859 P2d 1143 (1993).

We begin with the statutory text of ORS 167.057. Both parties note that there are multiple dictionary definitions for “description.” Based on those dictionary definitions, defendant concludes that “the plain naming of a thing is not a description,” rather “[a] description supplies details.” Defendant argues that “[t]he fact that a statement may [69]*69conjure up all manner of salient features, properties, qualities, or details of a thing in the mind of a recipient does not transform that statement into a description of that thing.” We disagree.

Using a dictionary definition of “description,” an express verbal description of sexual conduct is a “representation” of that conduct “produced by a describing of’ it; a statement “intended primarily to present to the mind or imagination graphically and in detail” information about the conduct; or, alternatively, “a statement of the properties of’ the sexual conduct “or its relations to other things serving to identify it.” Webster’s Third New Int’l Dictionary 610 (unabridged ed 2002).

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Related

State v. Correa-Sanchez
345 Or. App. 205 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2025)
State v. Rogers
340 Or. App. 625 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2025)
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478 P.3d 603 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2020)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
373 P.3d 1205, 278 Or. App. 65, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 540, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-king-orcccoos-2016.