State v. Laizure

268 P.3d 680, 246 Or. App. 747, 2011 Ore. App. LEXIS 1611
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedDecember 7, 2011
Docket08P3360; A143605
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 268 P.3d 680 (State v. Laizure) 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. Laizure, 268 P.3d 680, 246 Or. App. 747, 2011 Ore. App. LEXIS 1611 (Or. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

*749 SERCOMBE, J.

Defendant appeals from a judgment extending the period of his probation and imposing community service. He assigns error to the trial court’s finding that he violated two conditions of his probation, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support that finding. The state responds that the trial court acted within its discretion in implicitly modifying defendant’s terms of probation and then finding a violation of those modified terms. We affirm for a different reason than advanced by the state.

We state the facts consistently with the trial court’s express and implied findings where there is evidence in the record to support those findings. Ball v. Gladden, 250 Or 485, 487, 443 P2d 621 (1968). Defendant pleaded guilty to first-degree theft and was sentenced to two years of probation. His probation included the following general conditions:

“If physically able, find and maintain gainful full-time employment, approved schooling, or a full-time combination of both. * * *
“Change neither employment nor residence without prior permission from the Department of Corrections or a county community corrections agency.”

In March 2009, defendant’s supervising probation officer, Carol, directed defendant to change his residence. As a result, defendant moved from an adult foster-care facility on Stacey Street to an apartment on Mill Street. However, because defendant was unable to receive mail at his new Mill Street residence, he continued to use the facility on Stacey Street as his mailing address. Although defendant advised Carol that he had moved to Mill Street, he apparently failed to report that his mailing address remained on Stacey Street.

Shortly after moving, defendant was assigned a new supervising probation officer, Day. In July 2009, Day mailed a fee statement to defendant at his Mill Street address, but the mail was returned as undeliverable. Day then attempted to reach defendant through his employer, Roadway Safety Supply, but was informed that defendant no longer worked there. Day was unable to reach defendant and never had any direct contact with him. Defendant, however, left a voicemail *750 for Day on August 3, attempting to clarify that his mailing and residential addresses were different and reporting that he was currently employed. The following day, defendant spoke with Day’s supervisor, and his mailing address was updated in the system.

Day believed that defendant had violated the conditions of his probation. Consequently, the state moved the court to revoke defendant’s probation, alleging that (1) “defendant ha[d] changed residences without prior permission from [his] probation officer” and (2) “defendant ha[d] failed to find and maintain gainful employment.” At the probation revocation hearing, defendant presented evidence that, although he had lost his job with Roadway Safety Supply in early July, he was currently employed by Madden Industrial Craftsmen and had been since sometime in mid to late July, after a two-week period without work. Day testified that she was solely responsible for supervising 800 probationers and that, given her workload, the probationers were on “case bank” status, which means that no home visits were conducted. Instead, there was a “requirement that the clients provide verification to the [probation officer] regarding housing and employment changes.”

The trial court found that defendant had violated the conditions of his probation based on two grounds. First, regarding defendant’s employment, the trial court found as follows:

“I’m not exactly sure how these two jobs interrelate, but * * * you lost a job and you’re supposed to tell the probation officer and you didn’t; you’re assuming they knew this other thing [with Madden Industrial], Well, they didn’t know that, from [the probation officer’s] testimony. So, you were without a job or you had changed jobs or you switched jobs or you lost a job, so you’re in violation there.”

Second, regarding defendant’s change in address, the trial court found that, although defendant was instructed to move, he was required “to keep [the supervising authority] apprised of a mailing address because * * * they need a place in which to catch and get a hold of you.” The trial court continued, “So, yeah, you complied literally, but as far as the purpose of it, it [is] just sort of a deceiving thing.” Thus, the trial court found *751 that defendant had violated his probation by failing to report a valid mailing address. The court extended defendant’s probation to five years from the date of conviction, imposed 40 hours of community service, and elevated the level of his supervision from “case bank” status to active supervision.

On appeal, defendant contends that there was insufficient evidence to support the trial court’s determination that he had violated the conditions of his probation. First, defendant argues that there was no evidence that he had changed his residence without permission as the state alleged. Moreover, to the extent that the trial court found a probation violation based on defendant’s failure to timely report a change in his mailing address, defendant contends that there was no condition of probation requiring him to inform his probation officer of that information. Thus, according to defendant, the trial court erred in finding a violation on that basis. Second, defendant argues that there was insufficient evidence to support the state’s allegation that he had failed to maintain gainful employment. Defendant asserts that, in any event, the court did not base its decision on that allegation. Instead, defendant contends, the court “found that defendant was required to tell his probation officer that he lost his job * * * [and] that defendant was in violation for failing to do so.” Defendant argues that that finding is erroneous because none of defendant’s conditions of probation required him to report the loss of a job.

The state responds that, “[although the requirement that defendant notify his probation officer of any changes in his [mailing address] and employment was not one of his probation conditions originally, the court was authorized to modify those conditions of probation at the probation violation hearing.” According to the state, after modifying defendant’s probation conditions, the court then “properly exercised its discretion in finding that defendant violated [those] modified probation conditions.” In any event, the state argues, the record supports the conclusion that defendant violated the condition of probation requiring him to seek prior permission before changing his residence or employment. In the state’s view, defendant’s change of mailing address qualified as a change in residence, and defendant’s loss of a job constituted a change of employment; *752 defendant did not obtain prior permission to make either change.

The state relies on State v. Daves, 145 Or App 443, 930 P2d 265 (1996), rev den, 327 Or 83 (1998). In Daves, the trial court found that the defendant had violated a condition of his probation prohibiting the use of alcohol. In consequence, it continued the defendant’s probation with modified conditions.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
268 P.3d 680, 246 Or. App. 747, 2011 Ore. App. LEXIS 1611, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-laizure-orctapp-2011.