State v. Parkerson

541 P.3d 874, 371 Or. 716
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 21, 2023
DocketS069918
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 541 P.3d 874 (State v. Parkerson) 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. Parkerson, 541 P.3d 874, 371 Or. 716 (Or. 2023).

Opinion

716 December 21, 2023 No. 37

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF OREGON

STATE OF OREGON, Respondent on Review, v. WILLIAM JACK PARKERSON, Petitioner on Review. (CC 16CR67985) (CA A166232) (SC S069918)

En Banc On review from the Court of Appeals.* Argued and submitted September 19, 2023. Stephanie Hortsch, Deputy Public Defender, Office of Public Defense Services, Salem, argued the cause and filed the briefs for petitioner on review. Also on the briefs was Ernest G. Lannet, Chief Defender, Criminal Appellate Section. Philip Thoennes, Assistant Attorney General, Salem, argued the cause and filed the brief for respondent on review. Also on the brief were Ellen F. Rosenblum, Attorney General, and Benjamin Gutman, Solicitor General. BUSHONG, J. The decision of the Court of Appeals is affirmed in part and reversed in part. The judgment of the circuit court is reversed in part, and the case is remanded to the circuit court for resentencing. James, J., concurred and filed an opinion, in which Masih, J., joined.

­­_ _____________ * Appeal from Klamath County Circuit Court, Andrea M. Janney, Judge. 319 Or App 477, 511 P3d 25 (2022). Cite as 371 Or 716 (2023) 717 718 State v. Parkerson

BUSHONG, J. Defendant was convicted of assault in the first degree and sentenced to a term of imprisonment under Oregon’s dangerous offender statutes. He challenges that sentence, contending that (1) the trial court violated ORS 161.735 when it sentenced him as a dangerous offender without reviewing new presentence investigation (PSI) and psychological eval- uation reports that had been prepared specifically for this case; and (2) the determinate part of his sentence—that is, the part that he must serve before he can be released to post-prison supervision1—exceeds the maximum sentence allowed by ORS 161.605 and OAR 213-008-0003(2). The Court of Appeals rejected both arguments, State v. Parkerson, 319 Or App 477, 511 P3d 25 (2022), and we allowed review to address these important issues of stat- utory interpretation. We agree with the Court of Appeals that the determinate part of defendant’s sentence did not exceed the statutory maximum. But we conclude that the trial court erred in sentencing defendant as a dangerous offender using old PSI and psychological evaluation reports, because the statute required the court to consider new reports prepared for this case. Accordingly, we reverse and remand for resentencing. I. BACKGROUND A. Historical Facts There are two separate criminal proceedings rele- vant to this case. First, defendant was convicted of attempted aggravated murder and first-degree assault with a firearm for shooting a sheriff’s deputy (“the shooting case”). State v. Parkerson, 310 Or App 271, 273, 484 P3d 356 (2021), rev den, 369 Or 505 (2022) (affirming those convictions). The state sought a dangerous offender sentence in that case, and the trial court ordered a psychological evaluation and PSI

1 See State v. Davis, 315 Or 484, 495, 847 P2d 834 (1993) (stating that the “determinate” part of a dangerous offender sentence is “the part that the offender must serve[,]” and that the “indeterminate” part is “the part that the offender may serve, but from which the offender may be released to post-prison supervi- sion.” (Emphases in original.)). Cite as 371 Or 716 (2023) 719

pursuant to ORS 161.735. Defendant participated in the psychological evaluation but not the PSI. Ultimately, the court concluded that defendant was a dangerous offender and sentenced him accordingly. Defendant’s convictions in the shooting case were affirmed on appeal, and that danger- ous offender sentence is not before us. Second, several months after his conviction in the shooting case, defendant was indicted on a charge of first- degree assault based on an earlier incident in which he attacked the victim with a knife. A jury convicted defendant of that charge. The state again requested, and the court again imposed, a dangerous offender sentence. That sen- tence is before us on review. B. Sentencing Proceedings After the state requested a dangerous offender sen- tence in the present case, the trial court ordered a PSI and a psychological evaluation. Defendant declined to partici- pate in either process. The PSI and psychological evaluation ordered by the court were never done, and, consequently, the court did not receive or consider PSI and psychological eval- uation reports prepared for this case. The court proceeded with sentencing, considering testimony offered at the hear- ing and redacted versions of the psychological evaluation and PSI reports prepared for defendant’s sentencing in the shooting case. The redactions removed defendant’s express statements in an attempt to comply with ORS 161.735(4), which precludes using the defendant’s statements made in connection with a dangerous offender PSI and psychological evaluation “in any other criminal proceeding.” Dr. Phillips, the psychologist who had prepared the previous evaluation, testified that, despite defendant’s lack of participation in a second psychological evaluation, she could make a diagnosis “ ‘solely based upon the records if the records are comprehensive enough.’ ” Parkerson, 319 Or App at 483. She stated that her initial evaluation of defendant had included his self-report, but she removed that material and based her subsequent evaluation solely upon the discov- ery, the Department of Corrections (DOC) records, and her rescoring of the psychological tests—without defendant’s 720 State v. Parkerson

self-report. She also considered the information about defen- dant’s prior attempted murder and assault convictions in the shooting case, and the information about his conviction in the current case. Based on that material, Phillips stated in a short cover letter and testified at the hearing that it was her opinion that defendant met “ ‘the diagnostic criteria for antisocial personality disorder’ ”—one of the requirements for dangerous offender sentencing under ORS 161.725—but she did not submit a full written report explaining her eval- uation. Id. The state also offered the earlier PSI report from the shooting case and the testimony of Edson, who had pre- pared it. Edson testified that, although he did not prepare a new PSI for this case, he could have drafted a new PSI without defendant’s participation by using “proxy data”—a reference to the offender’s age at the time of the charged offense, his number of prior arrests, and his age at the time of his first arrest. Id. Defendant objected to the procedures employed in his dangerous offender sentencing, arguing that ORS 161.735 required the court to consider a new psychological evaluation and a new PSI. Defendant further argued that the state’s attempt to comply with ORS 161.735(4) by redact- ing his statements from the previous reports was insufficient because the court was prohibited from using a psychological evaluation drawn, in part, from defendant’s previous inter- views and other self-reported information, even if the state- ments themselves were redacted.

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Related

State v. Anderson
374 Or. 326 (Oregon Supreme Court, 2025)
State v. Swearingen
341 Or. App. 638 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2025)

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Bluebook (online)
541 P.3d 874, 371 Or. 716, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-parkerson-or-2023.