State v. Norman

174 P.3d 598, 216 Or. App. 475, 2007 Ore. App. LEXIS 1800
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedDecember 12, 2007
Docket031183 and 031199 A125399 (Control) and A125400
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 174 P.3d 598 (State v. Norman) 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. Norman, 174 P.3d 598, 216 Or. App. 475, 2007 Ore. App. LEXIS 1800 (Or. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

*477 HASELTON, P. J.

This appeal arises from two cases, Tillamook County Circuit Court Nos. 031183 and 031199, which were consolidated for trial before a jury. With respect to Case No. 031183, defendant challenges his convictions and sentences on three counts of attempted first-degree assault, ORS 161.405; ORS 163.185, and one count of felony attempt to elude a police officer, ORS 811.540. Defendant contends, principally, that (1) the trial court erred in precluding testimony from an expert witness that the actions of police officers, in attempting to apprehend defendant, had not comported with proper police practice, including with respect to the use of deadly physical force and (2) the court erred in determining that, for purposes of calculating defendant’s criminal history score under the sentencing guidelines, one of defendant’s attempted assault convictions did not arise from the “same criminal episode” as the other two. As described below, we reject defendant’s first contention, as well as his other assignments of error pertaining to his convictions, but agree with his second contention. Accordingly, we affirm defendant’s convictions but reverse and remand for resentencing in that case.

With respect to Case No. 031199, defendant challenges the imposition of an upward departure sentence on his conviction for second-degree burglary, ORS 164.215. In that case, the jury convicted defendant of second-degree burglary and unauthorized use of a vehicle, ORS 164.138, based on conduct that occurred on August 9, 2003. The trial court subsequently imposed an upward departure sentence on the burglary conviction based on “persistent involvement in similar offenses.” As amplified below, we agree that the court erred in imposing that sentence, see State v. Ramirez, 205 Or App 113, 133 P3d 343, adh’d, to on recons, 207 Or App 1, 139 P3d 981 (2006), rev allowed, 342 Or 256 (2007), and, consequently, we reverse and remand for resentencing in that case.

The circumstances material to our review are undisputed, except as specifically noted below. In Case No. 031183, defendant’s convictions arose from a series of events that *478 occurred on August 19, 2003. At that time, defendant was staying with his ex-wife, Mitsi Norman, in Tillamook, helping her move into a new house. That afternoon, Norman’s next-door neighbor, Lindsey Mays, telephoned her at work to tell her that he believed that defendant had broken into his house. Norman came home from work and found defendant in her home. Defendant was extremely anxious because a police officer had arrived outside of Mays’s house, and he was worried that the officer suspected that he was the burglar. Norman, knowing that the police likely did suspect defendant, suggested to defendant that he leave through a bedroom window at the rear of the house. Norman then went outside and told the officer — Tillamook County Sheriffs Sergeant Jonathan Zimmerman — that defendant had just left her house. Tillamook City Police Officers Kurtis Wagner and Jana McCandless arrived to assist in the investigation, and the three officers began searching for defendant.

As the officers conducted their search, a man told them that he had seen a suspicious person matching defendant’s description changing the tire on a truck on a nearby gravel road. Zimmerman, Wagner, and McCandless drove to the gravel road, left their cars, and walked up the road to investigate, with Zimmerman and Wagner in the lead and McCandless trailing behind at some distance to “watch the back.” After walking up the gravel road “for a little bit,” the officers heard a truck start up.

What happened next is a matter of sharp dispute between the state and defendant. Although the three officers’ accounts varied in their details, they agreed on the substance of the following scenario: As the truck came around the corner into view, about 20 feet in front of the officers, Zimmerman and Wagner raised their hands and shouted for the driver to stop. Zimmerman could see that it was defendant who was driving the truck — and, once defendant made eye contact with the officers, he began to accelerate towards them, “revving” the engine higher. Believing that defendant intended to run over them, Zimmerman and Wagner moved to avoid being hit. Each officer drew his weapon, and Zimmerman fired three or four rounds at the truck as it came at and passed them.

*479 The truck then continued a few yards down the gravel road towards McCandless, who, having heard the first shots, had unholstered her weapon. When McCandless determined that the truck was not going to stop, and would hit her if she did not move, she moved into blackberry brambles at the side of the road and fired several shots at the truck. The truck continued down the road, with the three officers running after it.

Meanwhile, a fourth officer, Tillamook County Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Hannigan, was also involved in searching for defendant and began driving up the gravel road. As he did so, Hannigan saw defendant’s truck coming at him from the opposite direction, about 75 yards away. At the same time, Hannigan could see the three officers running down the road behind the truck, and he heard one of them on the radio stating that the driver of the truck was the suspect. Hannigan believed that the truck was not going to stop and was “going to run over the top” of him, so he put his patrol car into reverse. At one point, defendant’s truck and Hannigan’s patrol car were “bumper-to-bumper” for about 15 to 20 feet, but Hannigan’s car spun into a ditch, and defendant continued down the road. A high speed chase ensued, with defendant ultimately being apprehended the next day.

Defendant’s account was very different. According to defendant, as he was driving down the gravel road at between five and ten miles per hour, he saw a police officer standing by the side of the road, pointing a gun at him. Defendant never saw that officer — or any officer — signal for him to stop. Instead, the officer just shot at him. At that point, according to defendant, he “freak[ed] out” — “I’m like I didn’t know what I did wrong, man” — and, “layfing] over in the seat,” accelerated with the officers shooting after him. When defendant finally “rais[ed] up,” he saw a police car (Hannigan’s) “backed up” “parked sideways on the road but not in the road”; defendant did not slow down but, instead, “went around him” and drove away.

Defendant denied attempting to run over the officers or driving “bumper-to-bumper” with Hannigan. At trial, as described below, defendant presented the testimony of a forensics expert, Verne Hoyer, who reconstructed what had *480 occurred based on his investigation and analysis of bullet trajectory patterns.

Defendant was charged with, inter

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
174 P.3d 598, 216 Or. App. 475, 2007 Ore. App. LEXIS 1800, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-norman-orctapp-2007.