State v. Pass

333 P.3d 1139, 264 Or. App. 583, 2014 WL 3953795, 2014 Ore. App. LEXIS 1075
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedAugust 13, 2014
Docket104476; A149028
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 333 P.3d 1139 (State v. Pass) 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. Pass, 333 P.3d 1139, 264 Or. App. 583, 2014 WL 3953795, 2014 Ore. App. LEXIS 1075 (Or. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

HASELTON, C. J.

Defendant, who was convicted of one count of second-degree sexual abuse (Count 2), ORS 163.425, one count of third-degree sodomy (Count 3), ORS 163.385, and two counts of third-degree sexual abuse (Counts 4 and 5), ORS 163.415, appeals, arguing that the trial court plainly erred in failing to merge Counts 2 and 3.1 We conclude that, under the reasoning of State v. Ofodrinwa, 353 Or 507, 300 P3d 154 (2013) — in which the Supreme Court concluded that a victim’s incapacity to consent due to minority is included in “the victim does not consent” element of second-degree sexual abuse — defendant’s guilty verdict for third-degree sodomy must, beyond any reasonable dispute, merge with his guilty verdict for second-degree sexual abuse. Accordingly, the trial court plainly erred in entering separate convictions. We exercise our discretion to correct that error and reverse and remand with instructions.

We review a trial court’s decision to not merge verdicts for errors of law. State v. Watkins, 236 Or App 339, 345, 236 P3d 770, rev den, 349 Or 480 (2010).

The material facts are few and undisputed. When K was 15 years old, she was an overnight guest at defendant’s residence. Defendant went into the living room and sat on the couch where K had been sleeping. He put his hand into her pants and touched her vagina. He also put his hand up her shirt and touched her breast. He then moved her pajama pants and underwear to the side and licked her vagina. When defendant tried to remove her clothes, K pulled her pajama pants up and curled into a ball. Defendant then left the room.

Defendant was charged with multiple sexual offenses. As pertinent here, in Count 2 of the indictment, the state alleged that defendant committed second-degree sexual abuse when he “did unlawfully and knowingly subject [K] to deviate sexual intercourse by touching her vagina with his tongue, the said [K] not consenting thereto, and [K] [585]*585is unable to consent because she is under the age of 18 ”2 The state alleged that that same conduct constituted third-degree sodomy and alleged, in Count 3 of the indictment, that defendant “did unlawfully and knowingly engage in deviate sexual intercourse with [K], a child under the age of 16.”3 A jury found defendant guilty on Counts 2 and 3; he did not argue that the verdicts on those counts should merge; and the trial court ultimately entered separate convictions.

Defendant appeals, arguing that the trial court should have merged the two guilty verdicts on those counts into a single conviction. Defendant acknowledges that he failed to preserve his merger argument, but he requests that we review for plain error and that we exercise our discretion to correct that error. See ORAP 5.45(1) (“No matter claimed as error will be considered on appeal unless the claim of error was preserved in the lower court and is assigned as error in the opening brief * * *, provided that the appellate court may consider an error of law apparent on the record.”).

An unpreserved error is reviewable as “plain error” if (1) the error is one of law; (2) the legal point is obvious— that is, “not reasonably in dispute”; and (3) to reach the [586]*586error, “[w]e need not go outside the record or choose between competing inferences to find it.” State v. Brown, 310 Or 347, 355, 800 P2d 259 (1990). If we conclude that the asserted error is plain, we must then decide whether to exercise our discretion to correct the error. Ailes v. Portland Meadows, Inc., 312 Or 376, 381-82, 823 P2d 956 (1991). In making that determination, we consider, among other things,

“the competing interests of the parties; the nature of the case; the gravity of the error; the ends of justice in the particular case; how the error came to the court’s attention; and whether the policies behind the general rule requiring preservation of error have been served in the case in another way[.]”

Id. at 382 n 6.

The asserted error here is one of law. The “anti-merger” statute, ORS 161.067(1), provides, in pertinent part:

“When the same conduct or criminal episode violates two or more statutory provisions and each provision requires proof of an element that the others do not, there are as many separately punishable offenses as there are separate statutory violations.”

As we explained in State v. Edwards, 251 Or App 18, 22, 281 P3d 675, rev den, 352 Or 665 (2012),

“[s]eparate convictions are appropriate under ORS 161.067(1) if the following conditions are met: ‘(1) the defendant engaged in acts that constituted “the same conduct or criminal episode,” (2) the defendant’s acts violated “two or more statutory provisions,” and (3) each statutory provision requires “proof of an element that the others do not.’” State v. White, 346 Or 275, 279, 211 P3d 248 (2009) (quoting State v. Crotsley, 308 Or 272, 278, 779 P2d 600 (1989)). If all three conditions are met, separate convictions are appropriate even when they arise out of a single criminal episode and involve a single victim.”

With respect to the third cumulative condition— which is the focus of our analysis that follows — we explained the applicable inquiry in State v. Alvarez, 240 Or App 167, 171-72, 246 P3d 26 (2010), rev den, 350 Or 408 (2011):

[587]*587“Generally, only the statutory elements of the offenses are compared; the facts as alleged in the indictment or found by the factfinder are not relevant. State v. Walraven, 214 Or App 645, 653-54, 167 P3d 1003 (2007), rev den, 344 Or 280 (2008); State v. Sumerlin, 139 Or App 579, 584, 913 P2d 340 (1996). However, when a statute contains alternative forms of a single crime (as, for example, unlawful use of a weapon, which can be committed either by (1) carrying or possessing a dangerous weapon or by (2) attempting to use one), we will look to the indictment to determine which form is charged, and we use the elements of the charged version in the merger analysis. State v. Cufaude, 239 Or App 188, 192-93, 244 P3d 382 (2010) [, rev den, 350 Or 130 (2011)]; see also [Crotsley, 308 Or at 278-80] (for purposes of merger, court considered elements of the version of first-degree rape as charged). Further, once we rely on the indictment to determine which of the alternative forms of the crime are at issue, we disregard particular facts alleged in the indictment or proved at trial. Cufaude, 239 Or App at 192-93 (the court does not consider evidence adduced at trial; rather, it relies on ‘pleaded elements’).”

Here, the parties agree that Counts 2 and 3 were based on the same exact conduct — viz., defendant touching the victim’s vagina with his mouth.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
333 P.3d 1139, 264 Or. App. 583, 2014 WL 3953795, 2014 Ore. App. LEXIS 1075, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-pass-orctapp-2014.