State v. Metcalfe

974 P.2d 1189, 328 Or. 309, 1999 Ore. LEXIS 70
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 26, 1999
DocketCC 97-09-37310; SC S44828
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 974 P.2d 1189 (State v. Metcalfe) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Metcalfe, 974 P.2d 1189, 328 Or. 309, 1999 Ore. LEXIS 70 (Or. 1999).

Opinion

*311 LEESON, J.

The issue in this original proceeding in mandamus is whether the trial court had authority to grant defendant-adverse party’s (defendant’s) motion for judgment of acquittal after the jury had found him guilty of Escape in the Second Degree and to find him guilty of Attempted Escape in the Second Degree. For the reasons that follow, we conclude that the trial court lacked authority to grant defendant’s post-verdict motion. Accordingly, we direct that a peremptory writ of mandamus shall issue.

Defendant was indicted on a single count of Escape in the Second Degree, ORS 162.155(l)(a), based on events that transpired while he was on trial for other charges. During that trial, a deputy escorted defendant to the courtroom and instructed him to sit in a chair at counsel table and to remain there, unless he was testifying. Defendant ran from the courtroom. After a brief scuffle, deputies subdued defendant outside the courtroom doors. Defendant was tried by a jury on the charge of Escape in the Second Degree based on those facts.

At the close of the state’s evidence, defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal, arguing that, at most, the state had proved Attempted Escape in the Second Degree. The trial court denied the motion, stating that it would “submit the case [to the jury] under the best instructions that we can devise * * The court instructed the jury on Escape in the Second Degree and the lesser-included offenses of Attempted Escape in the Second Degree, Escape in the Third Degree, and Attempted Escape in the Third Degree.

The jury returned a verdict of guilty on the charge of Escape in the Second Degree. The trial court accepted the verdict and excused the jury. Defendant renewed his motion for a judgment of acquittal, which the trial court granted. The court then vacated the jury’s verdict, found defendant guilty of the lesser-included offense of Attempted Escape in the Second Degree, entered “temporary” and final judgments on Attempted Escape in the Second Degree, and sentenced defendant on that conviction. This mandamus proceeding followed.

*312 Relator State of Oregon (the state) contends that the trial court lacked authority to acquit defendant of Escape in the Second Degree and to find him guilty of the lesser-included offense after the jury had returned its verdict. The state relies on State ex rel Penn v. Norblad, in which this court held that motions in arrest of judgment and motions for a new trial are the only post-verdict motions authorized by the legislature in criminal cases. 323 Or 464,469-70,918 P2d 426 (1996). Defendant responds that Norblad is inapposite, because the trial court in that case entered a post-verdict dismissal in reliance on ORS 135.755, 1 and this court’s opinion in that case addressed only that statute. Defendant argues that the plain language of ORS 136.445, the relevant statute in this case, neither bars a post-verdict motion for judgment of acquittal nor prohibits a trial court from ruling on a motion for judgment of acquittal after a jury has returned its verdict.

ORS 136.445 is part of the criminal procedure code enacted in 1973 to govern the conduct of criminal trials. See Norblad, 323 Or at 468 (explaining history of adoption of criminal code). That statute provides:

“In any criminal action the defendant may, after close of the state’s evidence or of all the evidence, move the court for a judgment of acquittal. The court shall grant the motion if the evidence introduced theretofore is such as would not support a verdict against the defendant. The acquittal shall be a bar to another prosecution for the same offense.”

In order to address defendant’s argument, we must construe ORS 136.445. We do so according to the familiar methodology of PGE v. Bureau of Labor and Industries, 317 Or 606, 610-12, 859 P2d 1143 (1993). We first analyze the text and context of the statute. Statutory context includes other provisions of the same statute and other related statutes, Norblad, 323 Or at 467, as well as relevant judicial constructions of those statutes, Fox v. Country Mutual Ins. Co., 327 Or 500, 506, 964 P2d 997 (1998).

*313 By its plain language, ORS 136.445 permits, but does not require, a defendant in a criminal proceeding to make a motion at two points in the proceeding, namely, after close of the state’s evidence or after all the evidence. The decision whether to make a motion for a judgment of acquittal is a defendant’s. The statute also provides that the trial court shall grant the motion “if the evidence introduced theretofore is such as would not support a verdict against the defendant.”

Defendant would have us interpret ORS 136.445 to allow a criminal defendant to move for a judgment of acquittal after a jury returned its verdict if, in hindsight, the evidence did not support the verdict. Even assuming that the words “theretofore” and the phrase “would not” in the statute might support such an interpretation, consideration of the statutory context reveals that defendant’s argument is implausible. We turn to that context.

The code of criminal procedure provides for two post-verdict motions in a criminal proceeding that are closely related to our inquiry regarding a trial court’s authority under ORS 136.445: ORS 136.500 (motion in arrest of judgment) 2 and ORS 136.535 (motion for a new trial). 3 As closely associated parts of the criminal code, they are relevant context for determining the legislature’s intent regarding ORS 136.445. See State v. Chakerian, 325 Or 370, 379, 938 P2d 756 (1997) (related statutes in criminal code are relevant context).

*314 A motion in arrest of judgment may be made only on the grounds specified in ORS 135.630

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State v. Scott
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
974 P.2d 1189, 328 Or. 309, 1999 Ore. LEXIS 70, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-metcalfe-or-1999.