State v. Peirce

440 P.3d 98, 296 Or. App. 829
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedApril 3, 2019
DocketA162930
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 440 P.3d 98 (State v. Peirce) 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. Peirce, 440 P.3d 98, 296 Or. App. 829 (Or. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

TOOKEY, J.

*830The subject of this case is a vintage 1985 Suzuki moped. Defendant appeals a conviction for the unauthorized use of that vehicle (UUV). ORS 164.135.1 On appeal, defendant assigns error to the trial court's denial of his motion for judgment of acquittal on that charge, arguing that "[t]he evidence is insufficient to show that defendant knew that the moped was stolen."2 We conclude that a rational factfinder could have found that the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant knew this moped was stolen, and, therefore, the trial court did not err when it denied defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal. Accordingly, we affirm.

When reviewing the denial of a motion for judgment of acquittal, we review the facts in the light most favorable to the state and draw all reasonable inferences in the state's favor to determine "whether any rational trier of fact, accepting reasonable inferences and credibility choices, could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt."

*100State v. Lupoli , 348 Or. 346, 366, 234 P.3d 117 (2010). Additionally, "when, as here, a defendant makes the [motion for judgment of acquittal] at the close of the state's case, 'the appellate court must consider all the evidence and if it is sufficient to sustain the conviction.' "

*831State v. Bilsborrow , 230 Or. App. 413, 418-19, 215 P.3d 914 (2009) (quoting State v. Gardner , 231 Or. 193, 195, 372 P.2d 783 (1962) ). We present the facts consistently with that standard.

As relevant to this appeal, defendant was charged with UUV. The state alleged that defendant "unlawfully and knowingly took, operated, rode in, exercised control over, or otherwise used a motor vehicle, without the permission of the owner."

At trial, the state called the victim and Deputy Mintier as witnesses on behalf of the state. The victim was the owner of a "vintage" 1985 Suzuki moped that ran "perfectly." When the victim purchased the moped, the victim received service records and multiple bills of sale that documented the previous owners of the moped. In that condition, the moped was worth approximately $ 950 because the moped was titled and street legal. On May 28, 2015, the victim left the state to attend his grandmother's funeral in California. When the victim returned home on June 2, the victim discovered that his moped was missing from his parking spot. The victim immediately reported the moped as stolen because the victim had not given anyone permission to use his moped.

On June 7, Mintier stopped defendant for speeding on a moped. As part of the routine procedure for conducting a traffic stop, Mintier ran the license plate and learned that the license plate came back to the victim's stolen moped. Eventually, Mintier was able to determine that the moped that defendant was riding did not match the make and model of the moped registered to the license plate and that the moped that defendant was riding had not been reported as stolen. Although the moped that defendant was riding had not been reported as stolen, defendant admitted to Mintier that he had switched the license plate that was on the moped that he was riding with the license plate from a moped that was at defendant's home.

When defendant and Mintier arrived at defendant's home, Mintier found the victim's moped with the license plate removed. Defendant told Mintier that he bought the victim's moped off of Craigslist "about a week prior and had no way of contacting the seller." Defendant also stated that *832he did not have any emails, text messages, or phone call records that would help identify the seller, and that he could not provide the full name of the seller. Defendant produced a "highly suspicious" bill of sale that Mintier said would "set off some alarm bells" if he were purchasing a vehicle. A bill of sale generally has "[t]he full name of the seller, the date of the sale, the agreed price, * * * a statement releasing ownership of the vehicle to the new owner," a "full description of the vehicle, including the VIN number, any license plate information or title information, and contact information * * * for the previous owner and the new owner." Defendant's bill of sale was handwritten on the back of a used 3" x 5" index card, identified the seller only as "Jerry W.," listed an address that did not belong to any structure, did not identify the model of the moped, did not identify the moped's VIN or license plate number, and did not identify the buyer or contain defendant's name or his signature.3 Additionally, the bill of sale listed the sale price as $ 100, but defendant told Mintier that he purchased the moped for $ 50. Defendant acknowledged to Mintier that $ 50 for this type of moped "seemed very cheap" and that the "bill of sale also looked suspicious." Defendant was arrested for the unlawful use of the victim's moped.

When the moped was returned to the victim, "[t]he ignition had been brute forced * * * so you could start it with any key or anything that was like the shape of a key, a screwdriver, whatever." Additionally, "[t]he kick start magneto was broken and being held up with a bungee cord," the mirrors were missing, the milk crate attached to the back was missing, and the engine had been tampered with so the moped was "going faster than it's supposed [to] legally be allowed *101to go, and it wasn't getting nearly as good as gas mileage."

At the close of the state's case, defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal, arguing that the state failed to prove that "defendant had actual, real knowledge that he lacked permission of the owner to use or possess" the moped. The trial court denied defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal.

*833Defendant then called his friend, Reidy, as a witness on his behalf. Reidy and defendant had known each other for 13 years, and they were both "mechanically inclined" and had knowledge about mopeds.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
440 P.3d 98, 296 Or. App. 829, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-peirce-orctapp-2019.