State v. Koenig

242 P.3d 649, 238 Or. App. 297, 2010 Ore. App. LEXIS 1275
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedOctober 27, 2010
DocketD070381M, D074624M A137720 (Control), A137721
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 242 P.3d 649 (State v. Koenig) 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. Koenig, 242 P.3d 649, 238 Or. App. 297, 2010 Ore. App. LEXIS 1275 (Or. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

242 P.3d 649 (2010)
238 Or. App. 297

STATE of Oregon, Plaintiff-Respondent,
v.
Richard Lucas KOENIG, Defendant-Appellant.

D070381M, D074624M; A137720 (Control), A137721.

Court of Appeals of Oregon.

Argued and Submitted December 22, 2009.
Decided October 27, 2010.

*650 Marc D. Brown, Deputy Public Defender, argued the cause for appellant. With him on the brief was Peter Gartlan, Chief Defender, Office of Public Defense Services.

Anna M. Joyce, Assistant Attorney General, argued the cause for respondent. With her on the brief were John R. Kroger, Attorney General, and Jerome Lidz, Solicitor General.

Before BREWER, Chief Judge, and WOLLHEIM, Judge, and SERCOMBE, Judge.[*]

SERCOMBE, J.

Defendant appeals judgments of conviction in two consolidated criminal cases on five counts of telephonic harassment, ORS 166.090,[1] and one count of criminal trespass *651 in the second degree, ORS 164.245.[2] Defendant assigns error to the trial court's denial of his motion for judgment of acquittal on all six counts. In addition, in a supplemental assignment of error, defendant argues that the trial court erred in denying his "motion to dismiss" the count of criminal trespass in the second degree. For the reasons that follow, we reverse defendant's conviction on the count of criminal trespass in the second degree and otherwise affirm.

We begin by considering whether the trial court erred in denying defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal as it relates to the five counts of telephonic harassment. Those five counts arose out of defendant's conduct in calling various Washington County public offices. On January 5, 2007, in response to "increasingly disruptive, time-consuming, and rude" telephone calls by defendant, the Office of Washington County Counsel issued a letter forbidding defendant from calling the Office of Washington County Counsel, the Washington County Administrator's Office, or the Washington County Human Resources Department, for a period of three years. In addition, that same day, the Washington County Sheriff's Office issued a letter forbidding defendant from calling the Washington County Sheriff's Office because defendant's calls to the Sheriff's Office had also become "increasingly time consuming and disruptive." Defendant was instructed in both letters that he could conduct any necessary business with the respective offices through written correspondence.

In February 2007, defendant made calls to the Office of Washington County Counsel and the Washington County Human Resources Department. And, in October 2007, defendant made additional calls to the Washington County Administrator's Office and the Washington County Sheriff's Office. On the basis of those additional calls, defendant was charged with the five counts of telephonic harassment of which he was ultimately convicted.

Defendant waived his right to a jury trial and, following the close of the state's case-in-chief, moved for a judgment of acquittal. As to the counts of telephonic harassment, he argued that there was no evidence that his intent at the time he caused the phones to ring was anything other than to discuss state law and obtain information. In particular, defendant contended that his intention was not to vex, annoy, or harass, but only to obtain information and communicate his views.[3] The trial court denied the motion and, ultimately, rendered a guilty verdict on each of the telephonic harassment counts.

On appeal, defendant argues that "the state is required to prove that a defendant charged with telephonic harassment under ORS 166.090(1)(b) had the intent to harass when he placed the call and knew that he was prohibited from calling by someone exercising lawful authority over the receiving telephone." (Emphasis in original.) Defendant renews the argument he made below that the record is devoid of evidence that he had the intent to harass or annoy the recipients of the calls at the time he caused the telephones to ring; rather, according to defendant, the record indicates that his intent at that time was to obtain information. Defendant also argues that calls made before the issuance of the letters forbidding him from calling are not relevant to determining his intent in placing the calls underlying the telephonic harassment charges. In addition, defendant argues that, if ORS 166.090 requires a factfinder to consider the content of the words spoken by the caller to determine *652 whether the caller committed the crime of telephonic harassment—i.e., whether the caller intended to harass or annoy the recipient—then ORS 166.090 violates the free speech protections of Article I, section 8, of the Oregon Constitution.[4]

The state responds that the circumstantial evidence presented in this case could lead a rational trier of fact to conclude that defendant intended to harass or annoy the recipients of his calls. As part of the evidence from which defendant's intent can be inferred, the state relies on defendant's own testimony at trial. There, defendant testified that "the prerogative of the people is to bother their public servants until they do what their oath of office says." Further, defendant testified, "When you first don't get a response, sometimes you escalate. * * * If you still don't get a proper response, you escalate some more." Although the state acknowledges that defendant may have intended to address various government policies with his calls, the state contends that "[defendant] also intended to annoy."

We review the denial of a motion for judgment of acquittal to determine "whether, after viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the state, a rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proved beyond a reasonable doubt." State v. Schneider, 229 Or.App. 199, 201, 211 P.3d 306 (2009) (citing State v. Cunningham, 320 Or. 47, 63, 880 P.2d 431 (1994), cert. den., 514 U.S. 1005, 115 S.Ct. 1317, 131 L.Ed.2d 198 (1995)). Although defendant moved for judgment of acquittal following the state's case-in-chief, "we consider the whole record to determine whether there is sufficient corroborative evidence." Id. (citing State v. Lamphere, 233 Or. 330, 332, 378 P.2d 706 (1963)).

A telephone caller commits the crime of telephonic harassment, as provided by ORS 166.090(1), if

"the caller intentionally harasses or annoys another person:
"(a) By causing the telephone of the other person to ring, such caller having no communicative purpose;

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
242 P.3d 649, 238 Or. App. 297, 2010 Ore. App. LEXIS 1275, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-koenig-orctapp-2010.