State v. Nugent

323 P.3d 289, 261 Or. App. 22, 2014 WL 554479, 2014 Ore. App. LEXIS 151
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedFebruary 12, 2014
Docket101051017; A147737
StatusPublished

This text of 323 P.3d 289 (State v. Nugent) 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. Nugent, 323 P.3d 289, 261 Or. App. 22, 2014 WL 554479, 2014 Ore. App. LEXIS 151 (Or. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

WOLLHEIM, J.

Defendant, who was convicted after a jury trial of one count of second-degree criminal trespass, ORS 164.245(1), appeals, assigning error to the giving of a uniform jury instruction that he asserts relieved the state of proving an element of the offense. He seeks to have his conviction set aside and the case remanded for a new trial. We conclude that, even if the court erred in giving the instruction, the error does not require reversal. We therefore affirm defendant’s conviction.

The facts are largely undisputed. Defendant was discovered sleeping in a sleeping bag on property along the Willamette River belonging to Zidell Marine Corporation. The property was marked with “no trespassing” signs and was enclosed on three sides by a chain link fence and barbed wire. Only the side along the Willamette River was not fenced. Defendant testified that he reached the property at night on an established trail from a paved walkway.

Defendant was charged with second-degree criminal trespass, ORS 164.245(l)(a), based on his presence on Zidell’s property. A person commits that offense “if the person enters or remains unlawfully * * * in or upon premises.” ORS 164.245(1). ORS 164.205(3)(a) defines “to enter or remain unlawfully” as “[t]o enter or remain in or upon premises when the premises, at the time of such entry or remaining, are not open to the public or when the entrant is not otherwise licensed or privileged to do so.” The charging instrument alleged that defendant “did unlawfully and knowingly and recklessly enter and remain in and upon” the Zidell property.

At trial, the state put on evidence that the Zidell property was not open to the public and that defendant did not have permission to be there. Defendant did not contradict that evidence. His defense was that he went to the property to sleep with the purpose of helping a friend and that, given the configuration of the property, the path to it, and the placement of the no trespassing signs, a reasonable person in defendant’s circumstances would have thought that the property was open to the public.

[25]*25The trial court gave Uniform Criminal Jury Instruction (UCrJI) 1900, which defines “to enter or remain unlawfully” in the same terms as the statute.1 Defendant objected to the instruction, contending that, despite following the language of the statute, the instruction was erroneous under this state’s case law, in particular State v. Hartfield, 290 Or 583, 624 P2d 588 (1981), and State v. Collins, 179 Or App 384, 39 P3d 925, rev dismissed, 334 Or 491 (2002).

In Hartfield, the Supreme Court held that, where one is permitted or invited to enter premises not open to the public, to prove an unlawful entry under ORS 164.205(3)(a), the state must prove that the person giving permission was without actual authority to do so, and that the entrant knew or believed that there was no actual authority. 290 Or at 595. In Collins, this court concluded that, consistently with Hartfield, to prove the offense of criminal trespass when premises are not open to the public at the time of entry, the state also had to prove that the entry was not otherwise licensed or privileged. 179 Or App at 393. As we understood Hartfield, the “or” in ORS 164.205(3)(a) must be construed as the conjunctive “and.”

In this case, defendant argued below that, as we held in Collins, to prove second-degree criminal trespass under ORS 164.205(3)(a) when premises are not open to the public, the state must prove both that the premises were not open to the public and that the entry was not otherwise licensed or privileged. 179 Or App at 393. Defendant contended that UCrJI 1900 misstated the law.2

[26]*26The trial court overruled defendant’s objection to UCrJI 1900, and explained why outside the presence of the jury:

“I believe that the uniform instruction is an accurate statement of law.
“I do not believe that the State is always required to prove both portions in that statute. There are times certainly when a premises is open to the public, yet a person is committing Criminal Trespass because they are not licensed or privileged to be there. And there are times when a premises is not open to the public * * * but yet they are licensed or privileged to be there, so the State is not required to prove both.”

Defense counsel subsequently asked that the state be required to elect the theory of trespass that it planned to pursue — entering and remaining on private property not open to the public or entering on property without a license. The prosecutor argued that he should not be required to make an election, because “either way I think there’s evidence in the record to support it[.]” The trial court ruled that the state was not required to elect a particular theory of trespass. The jury convicted defendant.

On appeal, defendant contends that, in light of Hartfield and Collins, the trial court erred in instructing the jury that it could convict defendant of criminal trespass if it found either that the premises were not open to the public or that the entry was not otherwise licensed or privileged, when the case law required the jury to find both facts.

We review the sufficiency of jury instructions for errors of law. State v. Barnes, 329 Or 327, 986 P2d 1160 (1999). In determining whether the trial court erred in giving a particular instruction, “we read the instructions as a whole to determine whether they state the law accurately.” State v. Woodman, 341 Or 105, 118-19, 138 P3d 1 (2006) (no error when instructions, read as a whole, accurately reflect statutory requirements). The giving of an erroneous instruction amounts to reversible error if it caused prejudice, i.e., if “the instruction probably created an erroneous impression of the law in the minds of the [jury] which affected the outcome of the case.” Waterway Terminals v. P. S. Lord, 256 Or [27]*27361, 370, 474 P2d 309 (1970); Maas v. Wilier, 203 Or App 124, 129, 125 P3d 87, rev den, 340 Or 411 (2005). In determining whether an error in instructing the jury probably affected the outcome of the case, the court considers the instructions as a whole, in light of the evidence at trial and the parties’ theories of the case. State v. Lopez-Minjarez, 350 Or 576, 578, 260 P3d 439 (2011) (“To assess whether the error in instructing the jury could have affected the jury’s verdict on the various charges involved, * * * it is important to describe both sides’ respective evidence and theories of the case.”).

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Related

State v. Lopez-Minjarez
260 P.3d 439 (Oregon Supreme Court, 2011)
State v. Woodman
138 P.3d 1 (Oregon Supreme Court, 2006)
State v. Barnes
986 P.2d 1160 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1999)
State v. Hartfield
624 P.2d 588 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1981)
Waterway Terminals Co. v. P. S. Lord Mechanical Contractors
474 P.2d 309 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1970)
State v. Collins
39 P.3d 925 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2002)
State v. Brown
800 P.2d 259 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1990)
Maas v. Willer
125 P.3d 87 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
323 P.3d 289, 261 Or. App. 22, 2014 WL 554479, 2014 Ore. App. LEXIS 151, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-nugent-orctapp-2014.