State v. N. R. L.

277 P.3d 564, 249 Or. App. 321, 2012 WL 1202174, 2012 Ore. App. LEXIS 460
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedApril 11, 2012
DocketPetition Number 04J090305; J090305; A144789
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 277 P.3d 564 (State v. N. R. L.) 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. N. R. L., 277 P.3d 564, 249 Or. App. 321, 2012 WL 1202174, 2012 Ore. App. LEXIS 460 (Or. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

NAKAMOTO, J.

Youth appeals the juvenile court’s judgment that he pay restitution in the amount of $114,071.13. Youth argues that the juvenile court erred in denying his motion to empanel a jury because Article I, section 17, of the Oregon Constitution entitled him to a jury trial on the issue of restitution. Youth contends that the amendments to the restitution statute, ORS 419C.450, changed the statute’s purpose from penal to “quasi-civil,” which therefore requires compliance with Article I, section 17. Contrary to youth’s position, in a juvenile proceeding, the youth offender’s obligation to pay restitution to a victim remains penal in nature, despite the statutory amendments; restitution is not a quasi-civil recovery device. We affirm.

The following facts are not in dispute. Youth unlawfully entered a warehouse and damaged property. Youth admitted to committing acts that, if committed by an adult, would constitute burglary in the second degree and criminal mischief in the first degree. Before the dispositional hearing, youth moved for a jury trial and argued that he was entitled to a jury trial for the determination of restitution pursuant to Article I, section 17. The juvenile court denied youth’s motion for a jury trial and ordered restitution in the following amounts: $5,000 to the State of Oregon on behalf of North Pacific Management; $5,000 to the state on behalf of Oregon Worsted; and $15,023.25 and $89,047.88 to the state on behalf of Liberty Mutual.

On appeal, youth reprises his argument that, because the restitution statute for juvenile proceedings provides victims with a quasi-civil recovery device, he was entitled to a jury trial on restitution under Article I, section 17. We review the juvenile court’s interpretation of Article I, section 17, for legal error. State v. Rangel, 328 Or 294, 298, 977 P2d 379 (1999).

Article I, section 17, provides that, “[i]n all civil cases the right of Trial by Jury shall remain inviolate.” Or Const, Art I, § 17. “In analyzing the meaning of a provision of the Oregon Constitution, [the] court looks to the specific wording of the provision, the case law surrounding it, and the historical circumstances that led to its enactment.” Lakin v. Senco [323]*323Products, Inc., 329 Or 62, 68, 987 P2d 463 (1999), clarified on recons, 329 Or 369, 987 P2d 476 (1999). In Lakin, the court explained that a person has the same right to jury trial in a civil case as he or she would have had in 1857, when the Oregon Constitution was adopted. See id. at 72 (“[T]he framers of the Oregon Constitution clearly understood the meaning of the right to a jury trial in a civil case and that they intended that that right would remain * * * secure against violation or impartment.”). Thus, “a jury trial is guaranteed only in those classes of cases in which the right was customary at the time the constitution was adopted or in cases of like nature.” Molodyh v. Truck Insurance Exchange, 304 Or 290, 295, 744 P2d 992 (1987) (citing Cornelison v. Seabold, 254 Or 401, 404-05, 460 P2d 1009 (1969)).

To determine whether cases are of like nature, courts must look at “the particular issue in the proceeding rather than the controversy.” See Salem Decorating v. Natl. Council on Comp. Ins., 116 Or App 166, 170, 840 P2d 739 (1992), rev den, 315 Or 643 (1993) (right to a jury trial exists where “the issue in this proceeding involves the resolution of a premium audit dispute under a statutory procedure that was established by the legislature in 1987”). Therefore, the relevant inquiry in this case is whether an award of restitution under ORS 419C.450 is the type of issue to which the right to a jury trial would have attached when Article I, section 17, was adopted.

In Oregon, juvenile delinquency proceedings were created by statute, not by common law, and did not even exist when Article I, section 17, was adopted. In fact, before the end of the nineteenth century, the term “delinquency” was unknown at common law. State ex rel Juv. Dept. v. Fitch, 192 Or App 56, 60, 84 P3d 190, rev den, 337 Or 282 (2004). Rather, under common law “[j]uveniles under the age of seven were held legally incapable of forming criminal intent, while those over the age of 14 were held fully responsible for their actions.” Id. In the late 1880s, the legislature enacted Oregon’s first statute granting “trial courts limited discretion to treat juveniles differently from adults.” Id. at 61. In 1907, Oregon created its first juvenile court system that was separate from the criminal system used for adults. Id. (citing State ex rel Juv. Dept. v. Reynolds, 317 Or 560, 567-68, 857 [324]*324P2d 842 (1993)). However, the juvenile court did not have exclusive jurisdiction in juvenile matters and exercised concurrent jurisdiction with adult courts. Reynolds, 317 Or at 568. In 1959, the legislature created a separate juvenile court system with exclusive jurisdiction over matters involving children under 18 years old. Id. at 569. That system remains in place today, with an exception created by Ballot Measure 11 for juveniles from 15 to 17 years old who are charged with certain serious felonies. See ORS 137.707; ORS 419C.005.

The juvenile court system still bears many similarities to the adult criminal justice system. Reynolds, 317 Or at 572-73 (discussing similarities); State v. Thompson, 166 Or App 370,380, 998 P2d 762, rev den, 331 Or 192 (2000) (same); State v. Trice, 146 Or App 15, 19-20, 933 P2d 345, rev den, 325 Or 280 (1997) (same). Nevertheless, Oregon courts have held that juvenile proceedings are sui generis, i.e., these proceedings are unique and neither criminal nor civil. Reynolds, 317 Or at 575 (“[T]he legislature so changed the way that a juvenile is treated as to create a proceeding that is sui generis.”)', see also Thompson, 166 Or App at 382 (“[J]uvenile delinquency proceedings are not criminal proceedings.”); Fitch, 192 Or App at 64 (concluding that “juvenile adjudications are not the legal equivalent of criminal prosecutions”).

Because juvenile delinquency proceedings are sui generis and did not exist when Article I, section 17, was adopted in 1857, youths generally are not entitled to a trial by jury in such proceedings. See Reynolds, 317 Or at 574 (“noting that no federal or Oregon authority heretofore has required a jury trial in juvenile court” under either Article I, section 11 (criminal jury trial) or section 17 (civil jury trial)). Youth argues, however, that the determination of a restitution award specifically — not a juvenile delinquency proceeding generally — is “of like nature” to claims that existed at common law and were tried by jury at the time Article I, section 17, was adopted. Specifically, youth asserts that the issue of damages for the destruction of a victim’s property is “of like nature” to a civil conversion or trespass claim.

Oregon appellate courts have not previously considered the issue youth now raises

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
277 P.3d 564, 249 Or. App. 321, 2012 WL 1202174, 2012 Ore. App. LEXIS 460, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-n-r-l-orctapp-2012.