State v. Payton

445 P.3d 338, 298 Or. App. 22
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJune 12, 2019
DocketA163219
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 445 P.3d 338 (State v. Payton) 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. Payton, 445 P.3d 338, 298 Or. App. 22 (Or. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

ORTEGA, P. J.

*340*24Defendant appeals a judgment of conviction for one count of first-degree burglary, ORS 164.225,1 assigning error to the denial of his motion for judgment of acquittal. In defendant's view, there was insufficient evidence from which a rational trier of fact could find, as necessary to his burglary conviction, that he unlawfully remained in his niece's house or that he did so with intent to commit an assault. More specifically to the latter point, defendant asserts that, under State v. J. N. S. , 258 Or. App. 310, 318-19, 308 P.3d 1112 (2013), because he did not form the intent to commit the assault at the initial point when he unlawfully remained in the house, there was insufficient evidence to support a first-degree burglary conviction. We conclude that, despite sufficient evidence that defendant unlawfully remained in the house, there was nevertheless insufficient evidence that defendant formed the intent to commit the assault at the requisite time. Accordingly, we reverse defendant's conviction for first-degree burglary and remand for entry of a judgment of conviction for the lesser-included offense of first-degree criminal trespass and for resentencing.

We review the denial of a motion for judgment of acquittal to determine whether, viewing the evidence and all reasonable inferences from it in the light most favorable to the state, "a rational trier of fact * * * could have found the essential element[s] of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt." State v. Cunningham , 320 Or. 47, 63, 880 P.2d 431 (1994), cert. den. , 514 U.S. 1005, 115 S.Ct. 1317, 131 L.Ed.2d 198 (1995).

Defendant and his family were staying with his niece for a week. One evening, after defendant began yelling and threatening to kill his niece, she asked him to leave. Defendant refused and said that he would leave the next day. Someone called for a taxi and left defendant's packed bags by the front door, but the taxi left without defendant. Defendant's father-in-law, who lived across the street, became aware of the incident and decided to go to the niece's house-without notifying anyone-to find out "what was *25going on." When he arrived, defendant emerged from a bedroom and punched his father-in-law in the face, and a fight ensued. The police arrived, and defendant was arrested. The state charged defendant with one count of first-degree burglary, two counts of fourth-degree assault, and one count of strangulation.

After the state presented its case-in-chief, defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal on the first-degree burglary charge, arguing that "the state failed to put on sufficient evidence to meet the standard to have this matter go to the jury." Defendant went on to argue that, to be convicted of first-degree burglary, defendant had to have

"knowingly * * * entered, or remained in [his house] with the intent to commit the crime of assault therein. * * * [T]he evidence is clear that he was attempting to leave at the time that this occurred, and that it was not his intent to stay * * *."

(Emphasis added). At that point, the court interrupted to say that the motion was denied, because there "was contradictory evidence to that, that he was told to leave and he said, 'I'm not leaving.' " Defense counsel attempted to interject, but the court cut him off again concluding,

"I know that the evidence [was] that he was eventually going to leave, but the evidence is also that he said, 'No, I'm not leaving.' Denied. Next?"

A person commits the crime of first-degree burglary if "the person enters or remains unlawfully in a building with the intent to commit a crime therein," ORS 164.215, and "the building is a dwelling," ORS 164.225.2 At issue here is whether the state proved that (1) defendant, after receiving authorization to enter his niece's house, *341unlawfully remained after that authorization was revoked-i.e. , defendant committed criminal trespass, and (2) defendant unlawfully remained with the intent to commit a crime therein. J. N. S. , 258 Or. App. at 318-19, 308 P.3d 1112. Specifically, as to the second element, under J. N. S. , a burglary conviction *26requires "criminal trespass for the purpose of committing a crime ." Id. (emphasis in original). As we explained:

"[T]he proper focus is on the defendant's intent at the initiation of the trespass. * * * If the trespass begins when a defendant remains in a building after authorization has expired or has been revoked, then we ask whether the defendant possessed the requisite criminal intent at the time of the unlawful remaining ."

Id . at 319, 308 P.3d 1112 (emphasis in original).

On appeal, defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence for a rational trier of fact to find that he unlawfully remained in his niece's house. Alternatively, defendant asserts that, under J. N. S.

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Related

State v. Payton
489 P.3d 1082 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2021)

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Bluebook (online)
445 P.3d 338, 298 Or. App. 22, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-payton-orctapp-2019.