State v. McGee

297 P.3d 531, 255 Or. App. 460, 2013 WL 707977, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 220
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedFebruary 27, 2013
Docket080343630; A146296
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 297 P.3d 531 (State v. McGee) 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. McGee, 297 P.3d 531, 255 Or. App. 460, 2013 WL 707977, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 220 (Or. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

DUNCAN, J.

In this criminal prosecution for driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII), ORS 813.010(1), the state appeals a pretrial order of dismissal entered after the trial court granted defendant’s motion to dismiss for lack of a speedy trial. ORS 135.747. We review for errors of law, State v. Johnson, 339 Or 69, 82-87, 116 P3d 879 (2005), and reverse and remand.

I. OVERVIEW

On March 28,2008, a Gresham police officer stopped defendant for a traffic violation. While processing the violation, the officer became suspicious that defendant was intoxicated and called a second officer, Harley, to conduct a DUII investigation. Harley came to the scene, observed defendant, and conducted field sobriety tests. Based on his observations and defendant’s performance on the tests, Harley arrested defendant.

After the state charged defendant with DUII, defendant moved to suppress evidence that Harley obtained during his investigation. Defendant served a subpoena duces tecum on Harley requiring him to attend the hearing on the motion to suppress and to bring certain documents with him. Harley attended the hearing but failed to bring most of the subpoenaed documents. The hearing was continued for a month and, by that time, Harley had provided defendant all the requested documents. Nevertheless, defendant asked the trial court to initiate a proceeding to hold Harley in contempt for his failure to bring all of the subpoenaed documents to the motion to suppress hearing and for certain comments Harley had made at the hearing in response to questioning by defendant. Defendant believed that Harley’s actions constituted contempt of court and reflected the existence of an antidefense bias. Defendant sought to have Harley found in contempt so that, in the DUII trial, he could use the finding as evidence of Harley’s bias. The trial court denied defendant’s request that it initiate a contempt proceeding against Harley, and defendant sought mandamus relief from the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court vacated the trial court’s order and remanded for reconsideration. [462]*462On reconsideration, the trial court again denied defendant’s request that it initiate contempt proceeding against Harley.

Because of delay resulting from the contempt proceeding, the related mandamus action, stays in the trial court sought by defendant, and other causes, defendant had still not been brought to trial over two years after he had been charged with DUII. Defendant moved to dismiss, arguing that he had not been brought to trial within a reasonable time as required by ORS 135.747. The trial court granted defendant’s motion, and the state appeals.

ORS 135.747 provides:

“If a defendant charged with a crime, whose trial has not been postponed upon the application of the defendant or by the consent of the defendant, is not brought to trial within a reasonable period of time, the court shall order the accusatory instrument to be dismissed.”

Review of a trial court’s decision on a motion to dismiss brought under ORS 135.747 entails a two-step analysis. First, we determine the total amount of delay and subtract from that total any periods of delay that occurred “upon the application * * * or by the consent of the defendant.” Second, we determine whether the remaining period of delay is reasonable. State v. Glushko/Little, 351 Or 297, 305, 266 P3d 50 (2011). In this case, the parties’ arguments implicate both of those analytical steps, namely, first, whether certain periods of delay were “upon the application * * * or by the consent of the defendant” within the meaning of ORS 135.747; and second, whether the remaining period was reasonable under the circumstances of this case.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Total period of delay

We first calculate the total period of delay, which begins when a defendant is charged and ends on the final date set for trial. Johnson, 339 Or at 93; State v. Garcia/Jackson, 207 Or App 438, 444 n 3, 142 P3d 501 (2006). In this case, the total period of delay begins on March 31, 2008, when the state filed an information charging defendant with one count of misdemeanor DUII and ends on the final trial [463]*463date, July 14, 2010. Thus, the total period of delay in this case was 835 days, or approximately 27.5 months.

B. Procedural history; identification of subsidiary periods of delay

In order to determine which, if any, periods of delay defendant applied for or consented to, we set out the procedural history in detail, focusing on the various subsidiary periods of delay.

1. Defendant’s first motion for trial setover

Defendant was charged with DUII on March 31, 2008, and his trial was initially set for May 28, 2008. Defendant moved for a setover, and the trial date was continued to June 3, 2008.1

[464]*4642. Defendant’s motion to suppress; defendant’s subpoena duces tecum

On June 3, 2008, the parties appeared for trial before Judge You.2 The court first took up pretrial motions, including defendant’s motion to suppress. In connection with the motion to suppress, the state called Harley. Defendant had served Harley with a subpoena duces tecum requiring him to bring documents, including his investigation report, all subpoenas issued to him to attend implied consent hearings and his record of compliance with those subpoenas for the previous 12 months, and all manuals upon which he had been trained to administer field sobriety tests. Harley brought his investigation report to the suppression hearing, but he did not bring any of the other subpoenaed documents. In connection with the training manuals that he had been asked to bring, Harley noted that one of the manuals was for training he had received in Maui and that the “subpoena didn’t include a ticket back to Maui to pick up that manual.” Harley explained that he had received the subpoena on the Friday before the Tuesday hearing, that he had not worked on the intervening days, and that he had showed the subpoena to his supervisor who had told him to send it to the Gresham City Attorney’s office. Harley further explained that his office’s court coordinator had not seen the second page of the subpoena, which requested the training manuals and materials related to implied consent subpoenas.

After defendant examined Harley about his failure to comply with the subpoena, he moved for a continuance. Judge You questioned the parties about when the subpoena was served and the relevance of the requested documents.3 [465]

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Related

State v. McGee
437 P.3d 238 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2019)
State v. Bronson
372 P.3d 560 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2016)
State v. Wendt
341 P.3d 893 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2014)
State v. Blevins
330 P.3d 650 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2014)
State v. Straughan
327 P.3d 1172 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
297 P.3d 531, 255 Or. App. 460, 2013 WL 707977, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 220, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mcgee-orctapp-2013.