State v. Lawler

927 P.2d 99, 144 Or. App. 456, 1996 Ore. App. LEXIS 1698
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedNovember 13, 1996
Docket9505-33627; CA A90362
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 927 P.2d 99 (State v. Lawler) 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. Lawler, 927 P.2d 99, 144 Or. App. 456, 1996 Ore. App. LEXIS 1698 (Or. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

*458 DE MUNIZ, J.

Defendant is a minor who appeals from judgments of conviction for assault in the first degree, ORS 163.185, and assault in the third degree, ORS 163.165. Although he had no criminal history, he received a 90-month prison term on the first-degree assault conviction, pursuant to Ballot Measure 11, a voter initiative mandating minimum sentences for serious felonies against persons, including a requirement that 15- to 17-year-olds charged with those crimes be tried as adults. Or Laws 1995, ch 2, § 1(1) and (2). On appeal, he asserts that Measure 11 violates several provisions of the juvenile code and the Oregon Constitution. 1 We affirm.

Defendant was part of a group that attacked two men in a park near Mount Hood Community College on May 5, 1995. Defendant struck David Clarke in the back of the head with a baseball bat, causing extensive injuries, including a skull fracture and slight brain damage. Evan Gardner, the second victim, was also struck in head while trying to escape. He received three surgical stitches.

Defendant was soon arrested. Although 17 years old at the time, he was not charged in juvenile court, as required by ORS 419C.005. 2 Instead, he was among the first minors in the state charged directly in circuit court under Measure ll, 3 which provides, in part:

“Section 1. (1) When a person is convicted of one of the offenses listed in subsection (2) of this section and the *459 offense was committed on or after April 1, 1995, the court shall impose, and the person shall serve, at least the entire term of imprisonment listed in subsection 2. The person is not, during the service of the term of imprisonment, eligible for release on post-prison supervision or any form of temporary leave from custody. The person is not eligible for any reduction in the sentence for any reason whatsoever under ORS 421.120, 421.121 or any other statute. The court may impose a greater sentence if otherwise permitted by law, but may not impose a lower sentence than the sentence specified in Section 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when a person charged with any of the offenses listed in subsection 2 of this section is 15, 16 or 17-years of age, at the time the charges are filed, that person shall be tried as an adult.
“(2) The offenses to which subsection (1) of this section applies and the sentences are:
* iji * *
“(d) Assault in the first degree * * * 90 months
“(e) Assault in the second degree * * * 70 months [.]”
(Emphasis supplied.)

A grand jury indicted defendant for assault in the first degree on Clarke and assault in the second degree on Gardner. The second degree assault charge was later reduced to assault in the third degree, ORS 163.165, which is not a Measure 11 offense. On that charge, the state filed a delinquency petition in juvenile court, ORS 419C.250 et seq, and defendant was remanded back to circuit court to be tried as an adult, pursuant to ORS 419C.340 et seq.

Before trial, defendant moved to dismiss the indictment on the first degree assault charge, challenging Measure 11 on statutory and constitutional grounds. The trial court denied the motion and found defendant guilty of both counts in a stipulated facts trial. Although defendant has no criminal history, he received a mandatory minimum sentence of 90 months in prison for first-degree assault, pursuant to Measure 11. Or Laws 1995, ch 2, § l(2)(d). On his conviction for third-degree assault, he received 14 months, pursuant to the sentencing guidelines.

*460 On appeal, defendant challenges only his conviction for first-degree assault, raising the same statutory and constitutional arguments he made at trial. We first address defendant’s statutory claims. State v. Rodriguez, 317 Or 27, 31, 854 P2d 399 (1993) (cases are to be decided, if possible, on nonconstitutional grounds before reaching constitutional issues).

Defendant first argues that the circuit court lacked jurisdiction over the first-degree assault charge because defendant was a minor and the state did not follow juvenile code procedures. ORS 419C.005 grants the juvenile court exclusive jurisdiction over cases involving a minor’s acts that, if committed by an adult, would constitute a crime. A minor under the juvenile court’s jurisdiction generally must be “waived” or “remanded” into adult court pursuant to the procedures in ORS 419C.340 et seq. Measure 11, however, provides, in part:

“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when a person charged with any of the offenses listed in subsection 2 of this section is 15,16 or 17-years of age, at the time the charges are filed, that person shall be tried as an adult.” (Emphasis supplied.)

Defendant contends that Measure 11 did not alter the provisions relating to juvenile jurisdiction and remand in ORS chapter 419C. 4 At most, he argues, it only required trial in adult court, with the juvenile court retaining jurisdiction for all other purposes, including disposition and sentencing. Defendant asserts that Measure 11 does no more than provide juveniles the right to a jury trial when charged with a Measure 11 offense, superseding the Supreme Court’s holding in State ex rel Juv. Dept. v. Reynolds, 317 Or 560,575, 857 P2d 560 (1993) (delinquency proceedings are not criminal prosecutions and thus are not subject to the right to a jury trial). The text of Measure 11, he argues, nowhere explicitly requires that juveniles convicted of the listed crimes be sentenced as adults. As such, defendant contends, the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to try defendant on the first-degree *461 assault charge, as well as the authority to impose a mandatory minimum sentence.

Defendant’s argument presents an issue of statutory interpretation, which we review as a question of law.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Rivas-Valles v. Board of Parole & Post-Prison Supervision
365 P.3d 674 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2015)
State v. Godines
236 P.3d 824 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2010)
State v. Davis
174 P.3d 1022 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2007)
United States v. Kelly David Ankeny, Sr.
490 F.3d 744 (Ninth Circuit, 2007)
United States v. Ankeny
Ninth Circuit, 2007
Roy v. Palmateer
132 P.3d 56 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2006)
State v. Stamper
106 P.3d 172 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2005)
STATE EX REL. JUV. DEPT. v. Fitch
84 P.3d 190 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2004)
State ex rel. Juvenile Department v. Fitch
84 P.3d 190 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2004)
Dugger v. Schiedler
27 P.3d 498 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2001)
Beal v. City of Gresham
998 P.2d 237 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2000)
State v. Hamilton
974 P.2d 245 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1999)
State v. Ferman-Velasco
971 P.2d 897 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1998)
State v. DuBois
954 P.2d 1264 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1998)
State v. VanNatta
945 P.2d 1062 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1997)
State v. Thomas
945 P.2d 1056 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1997)
State v. Rhodes
941 P.2d 1072 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1997)
State v. George
934 P.2d 474 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1997)
State v. Jackson
929 P.2d 323 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1997)
State v. Ysasaga
932 P.2d 1182 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1997)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
927 P.2d 99, 144 Or. App. 456, 1996 Ore. App. LEXIS 1698, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lawler-orctapp-1996.