State v. Kowalskij

291 P.3d 802, 253 Or. App. 669, 2012 Ore. App. LEXIS 1448
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedDecember 5, 2012
Docket090632573, 091034174; A144734, A144735
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 291 P.3d 802 (State v. Kowalskij) 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. Kowalskij, 291 P.3d 802, 253 Or. App. 669, 2012 Ore. App. LEXIS 1448 (Or. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

ORTEGA, R J.

Defendant in this consolidated case was convicted of several counts of identity theft, ORS 165.800, and mail theft, ORS 164.162. On appeal, defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal on one of the identity theft charges. Specifically, he argues that the court should have granted his motion because he was erroneously charged with unlawfully obtaining the personal identification of the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) rather than with obtaining the personal identification of an employee of ODOT. We review the facts in the light most favorable to the state, State v. Parkins, 346 Or 333, 335, 211 P3d 262 (2009), and affirm.

An officer found a stack of stolen mail, which included checks, bank statements, and other items, in defendant’s possession. Several weeks later, during a consent search, an officer found, among other things in defendant’s possession, a number of bank statements, pieces of identification, bank cards, and checks, all listing different names. Among the items of mail stolen by defendant was an envelope addressed to ODOT, East Portland to the attention of Mike Beam. Defendant was charged with several counts of identity theft and mail theft. With respect to the identity theft charge at issue (Count 13 in Case Number 090632573), the indictment charged defendant as follows:

“That said Defendant ***, did unlawfully, with intent to deceive and defraud, obtain personal identification of OREGON DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION EAST PORTLAND MAINTENANCE STATION, contrary to the statutes in such cases made and provided and against the peace and dignity of the State of Oregon [.]”

After the state presented its case, defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal on a number of counts, including Count 13, arguing that the indictment did not sufficiently allege a crime because ODOT is not a person and identity theft must relate to a person. The state noted that the documents in question belonged to the listed business but contained the personal identification of an individual. The trial court granted defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal on several counts, but denied it with respect [671]*671to Count 13, concluding that acquittal was not required because the evidence showed that defendant had obtained personal identification of a person, Mike Beam. According to the court, the reference to ODOT in the indictment was surplusage: “[Y]ou can drop that language and you still have [the allegation regarding] personal identification.” The court reasoned that the indictment sufficiently alleged a crime regardless of the fact that it listed ODOT as the victim because the term “personal identification,” as defined in the statute, “always applies to the identification of a person” and it is “not an element to the offense to say who it belonged to.”

On appeal, defendant contends that the trial court should have granted his motion for judgment of acquittal on that charge “because the state alleged that defendant obtained the personal identification of ODOT, but ultimately relied on evidence that defendant obtained the personal identification of Mike Beam, a variance that involved a matter of substance, not form.” The state responds that, although the proof at trial varied from the allegation in the indictment, that variance was not material and did not prejudice defendant. Accordingly, the issue we must address is whether there was a material variance between the allegations in the indictment (that defendant unlawfully obtained personal identification of ODOT) and the proof at trial (that defendant unlawfully obtained personal identification of Mike Beam at ODOT).

In order to determine whether a variance between an allegation in an indictment and the proof at trial is material, the court first

“examines whether the variance between an allegation and proof concerns an allegation of a material element of the crime. Second, if the allegation does not concern a material element of the crime, the court determines whether on the facts of the particular case, the defendant had suffered prejudice to his defense by the variance between the allegation and the proof.”

State v. Newman, 179 Or App 1, 7, 39 P3d 874 (2002) (internal quotation marks, citation, and footnote omitted). As the Supreme Court has explained,

[672]*672“[m]atters of form are matters that are not essential to the charge and are merely clerical matters, such as matters as to which the defendant cannot be misled to his or her prejudice by the amendment. A matter that is essential to show that an offense has been committed is a matter of substance.”

State v. Long, 320 Or 361, 367 n 9, 885 P2d 696 (1994), cert den, 514 US 1087 (1995) (citation omitted).

Our decision in State v. Woodward, 187 Or App 233, 66 P3d 556 (2003), is instructive. There, the charging instrument alleged that the defendant had committed theft from Fred Meyer, Inc. However, the proof at trial demonstrated theft from a customer of Fred Meyer. Nonetheless, we concluded that “the variance in proof did not compel the allowance of [the] defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal.” Id. at 236. We addressed the issue of whether the allegation that the defendant had committed theft of “‘the property of FRED MEYER, INC’” was a material element of the crime. Id. at 237. We observed that, pursuant to the theft statute, the identity of the person whose property is taken is not material to show that an offense has been committed. It is sufficient that the charging instrument allege that the defendant has taken or withheld another’s property. Furthermore, we relied on ORS 135.725, which specifically provides that an erroneous allegation in a charging instrument “as to the person injured or intended to be injured is not material.” Accordingly, we concluded that the identity of the victim was not a material element of the offense. Woodward, 187 Or App at 238.

Defendant acknowledges that Woodward appears to be controlling. However, he asserts that it is distinguishable because he was charged with identity theft rather than theft. We are not persuaded by the distinction that defendant proposes.

Pursuant to ORS 165.800(1), a person “commits the crime of identity theft if the person, with the intent to deceive or to defraud, obtains, possesses, transfers, creates, utters or converts to the person’s own use the personal identification of another person.” As used in the statute, [673]*673“‘[ajnother person’ means a real person, whether living or deceased, or an imaginary person.” ORS 165.800(4)(a). The term “personal identification” as used in the identity theft statute is defined as follows:

“‘Personal identification’ includes, but is not limited to, any written document or electronic data that does, or purports to, provide information concerning:

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505 P.3d 975 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2022)
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410 P.3d 275 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2017)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
291 P.3d 802, 253 Or. App. 669, 2012 Ore. App. LEXIS 1448, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-kowalskij-orctapp-2012.