State v. McMilian

80 P.3d 538, 191 Or. App. 62, 2003 Ore. App. LEXIS 1612
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedNovember 26, 2003
Docket96C-20672, 00C-54523 A115696 (Control), A115697
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 80 P.3d 538 (State v. McMilian) 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. McMilian, 80 P.3d 538, 191 Or. App. 62, 2003 Ore. App. LEXIS 1612 (Or. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

*64 BREWER, P. J.

Defendant appeals his convictions for two counts of identity theft, ORS 165.800, and a judgment revoking his probation in another case based on his commission of the identity theft crimes. In particular, he asserts that the trial court erred by (1) denying his motion to suppress evidence derived from a search of his person; (2) trying him on stipulated facts in the criminal case without first obtaining a written waiver of his right to a jury trial; (3) failing adequately to inquire concerning his request for new counsel; and (4) determining that he had violated his probation based on his commission of the identity theft offenses. We reverse and remand.

Defendant was convicted in 1996 of two counts of first-degree forgery and one count of racketeering, and he was placed on bench probation for those offenses. Defendant’s probation on the forgeiy convictions expired in 1998, but he was scheduled to remain on probation for the racketeering conviction until September 17, 2001.

On October 29, 2000, defendant was stopped by a police officer for a traffic infraction. Defendant left his vehicle to speak to the officer, who requested his identification. Defendant gave the officer his true name, but he stated that he had no identification and that he thought his driver’s license was suspended. Defendant appeared nervous and fidgety. He also was sweating profusely despite the cold weather, he was moving his hands a lot, and he repeatedly put his hands in his pockets. The officer smelled the odor of methamphetamine coming from defendant’s person. Because of defendant’s behavior and his inability to produce identification, the officer believed that defendant might be armed. Concerned for his safety, the officer asked defendant if he could search him for weapons, and defendant consented.

The officer patted defendant down and checked inside his pockets. During that search, the officer found a checkbook inside defendant’s jacket pocket. He opened the checkbook and found checks in the name of Anthony Meeker, as well as a driver’s license bearing Meeker’s name but displaying defendant’s photograph. Defendant told the officer *65 that the license was a fake. The officer detained defendant in the back of his patrol car based on defendant’s failure to present a valid driver’s license and his possession of a forged license. After advising defendant of his Miranda rights, the officer asked defendant how he had paid for groceries that the officer had seen in the back seat of defendant’s car. Defendant stated that he “just paid for them.” While the officer was talking to defendant, he saw a checkbook in the back of the patrol car. The officer picked up the checkbook and noticed that it contained checks in the name of “Correct Construction, Inc.” The officer then called the store where defendant had purchased the groceries and was told that the purchaser had paid for them with a check in the name of Kevin Anderson. From that information, the officer concluded that the groceries were stolen.

Because defendant had stated that his driver’s license was suspended, the officer impounded defendant’s vehicle. Before having it towed, the officer inventoried the vehicle. During the inventory, the officer found a wallet that contained a driver’s license in the name of Kevin Anderson but that, once again, displayed defendant’s photograph. That license listed the same address as the checks for Correct Construction, Inc. As the officer moved the back seat forward to retrieve the groceries, he saw another checkbook on the floor of the vehicle. The officer opened that checkbook and found checks and a driver’s license inside bearing the name of Richard Arnold. The license also displayed defendant’s photograph.

Defendant was arrested and charged with two counts of identity theft, based on his alleged use of the identifications belonging to Anderson and Arnold. He was not charged with any offense pertaining to his possession of the checkbook and identification that the officer found in his jacket pocket. The state also initiated a show cause proceeding to revoke defendant’s probation on his previous racketeering conviction. The show cause motion alleged four grounds for revocation: (1) the commission of new crimes; (2) failure to obey all laws; (3) failure to pay court-ordered financial obligations; and (4) failure to benefit from probation.

*66 The trial court appointed counsel for defendant in the criminal and probation violation cases. At his arraignment, defendant requested new counsel, stating that his current counsel had “tried to coerce [him] into taking guilty pleas.” The trial court replied that defendant’s current attorney was “appointed to represent [him], and that’s what he’s doing.” The court then proceeded to the next case on the docket.

Defendant moved, in both the criminal case and the probation violation proceeding, to suppress the evidence seized from his person and vehicle following the traffic stop. The trial court scheduled for the same date a hearing on the motion to suppress, a jury trial in the criminal case, and a probation violation hearing in the racketeering case. A combined evidentiary hearing was held on the probation violation charges and the motion to suppress. The state adduced evidence that defendant had committed the identity theft crimes with which he currently had been charged. The court found that defendant had violated his probation by committing the same type of crime for which he had been placed on probation and, therefore, that he had not benefitted from probation. The court made no findings concerning the allegation that defendant had failed to pay his financial obligations.

The court denied the motion to suppress. The court then held a stipulated facts trial on the identity theft charges, and it convicted defendant of those offenses. The record does not reflect that defendant waived in writing his right to a jury trial.

At sentencing, the court revoked defendant’s probation on the racketeering conviction, and it sentenced him to 60 months’ imprisonment and 36 months’ post-prison supervision. In addition, the court sentenced defendant to 13 months’ imprisonment on each of the identity theft convictions, concurrent to one another, but consecutive to the probation revocation sentence.

Defendant appeals from his convictions in the identity theft case and the judgment revoking his probation in the racketeering case. To recapitulate, defendant asserts that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress on the ground that the search of the checkbook found in his jacket *67 was unlawful; trying him on stipulated facts without first obtaining a written waiver of defendant’s right to a jury trial; failing to adequately inquire concerning his request for new counsel; and determining that he had violated his probation based on his commission of the new identity theft offenses. We consider those arguments in turn.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
80 P.3d 538, 191 Or. App. 62, 2003 Ore. App. LEXIS 1612, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mcmilian-orctapp-2003.