State v. Litscher

142 P.3d 549, 207 Or. App. 565, 2006 Ore. App. LEXIS 1345
Court of Appeals of Oregon·Decided September 6, 2006·No. CR030551DV, CR030564DV; A125753, A125754·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinion

LANDAU, P. J.

Defendant appeals from a judgment of conviction for first-degree burglary, ORS 164.225, assigning error to the trial court’s denial of his motion for a judgment of acquittal. The conviction was based on evidence that defendant had unlawfully entered a home with the intention of violating a restraining order. Defendant argues that the evidence was legally insufficient to support a burglary conviction because the offense requires proof of entry into a building with the intention to commit a “crime” therein. According to defendant, under Oregon law, violating a restraining order constitutes contempt of court, not a crime. We agree and vacate defendant’s burglary conviction and remand with instructions to enter a judgment of conviction for first-degree criminal trespass.

The relevant facts are not in dispute. Defendant’s former girlfriend served him with a Family Abuse Prevention Act (FAPA) restraining order that prohibited him from contacting her. See ORS 107.718 (describing conditions under which a court shall issue a FAPA restraining order). In violation of that order, defendant entered her home. He was charged with burglary. The indictment alleged that defendant had unlawfully entered his former girlfriend’s home “with the intent to commit the crime of violation of a restraining order/contempt of court therein.”

At trial, defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal, arguing that, because violating a restraining order does not constitute a “crime,” the state’s evidence was legally insufficient to prove the offense of burglary. The trial court denied the motion, and the jury found defendant guilty.

On appeal, defendant renews his argument that violating a restraining order is punishable by a court as contempt but does not constitute a “crime” for purposes of ORS 164.225. The state responds that violating a restraining order is a “crime.” According to the state, relevant statutes define a “crime” as conduct for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment is provided by law, and a court may punish violation of a restraining order by up to six months in jail. We agree with defendant that, although violating a restraining [568] order exposes the violator to the possibility of punitive sanctions, including the possibility of confinement, it does not constitute a “crime” for purposes of ORS 164.225.

2Whether violation of a restraining order constitutes a “crime” within the meaning of ORS 164.225 is a question of statutory construction. We therefore apply the interpretive method described in PGE v. Bureau of Labor and Industries, 317 Or 606, 610-12, 859 P2d 1143 (1993), examining the text of the statute in context and, if necessary, legislative history and other aids to construction. In conducting our examination of the text in context, we consider, among other things, prior judicial construction of the relevant terms. State v. Stubbs, 193 Or App 595, 600, 91 P3d 774 (2004) (prior judicial construction of a statute’s text is relevant at the first level of analysis under PGE).

ORS 164.215(1) provides that a person commits the crime of burglary in the second degree if that person “enters or remains unlawfully in a building with the intent to commit a crime therein.” ORS 164.225(1) then provides that a person commits the crime of burglary in the first degree if that person violates ORS 164.215 and, among other things, the building is a dwelling. Neither statute defines the term “crime.”

ORS 161.515 defines “crime” as “an offense for which a sentence of imprisonment is authorized.” ORS 161.505 defines an “offense” as “conduct for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment or to a fine is provided” by law. The statute then adds that an offense “is either a crime, as described in ORS 161.515, or a violation, as described in ORS 153.008.” The latter statute defines a “violation” as an offense that is either defined by law as such or one that is punishable by fine, but not by imprisonment. ORS 153.008(1).

ORS 107.718 and ORS 107.728 provide that violations of FAPA restraining orders are remedied by proceedings for contempt. See generally Bachman v. Bachman, 171 Or App 665, 672, 16 P3d 1185 (2000). ORS 33.105, in turn, provides that a court may impose up to six months’ imprisonment for contempt of a court order. The criminal code, however, contains no separate offense of violation of a FAPA restraining order.

[569] Thus, violation of a FAPA restraining order is not a “violation” within the meaning of ORS 153.008(1); it is not denominated as such by law, and it is punishable by imprisonment. Moreover, neither ORS 161.505 nor ORS 161.515 makes clear whether it is a “crime” or an “offense.”

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State v. Litscher, 142 P.3d 549, 207 Or. App. 565, 2006 Ore. App. LEXIS 1345 (Or. Ct. App. 2006).

142 P.3d 549 (State v. Litscher) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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