State v. Pollard

888 P.2d 1054, 132 Or. App. 538, 1995 Ore. App. LEXIS 93
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJanuary 25, 1995
DocketC920219CR; CA A77376
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 888 P.2d 1054 (State v. Pollard) 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. Pollard, 888 P.2d 1054, 132 Or. App. 538, 1995 Ore. App. LEXIS 93 (Or. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinions

[540]*540HASELTON, J.

Defendant appeals his conviction for murder by abuse. ORS 163.115(1)(c). He argues that the trial court erred in denying his demurrer to the indictment and in denying his motion to suppress inculpatory statements he made during a police interview. Because defendant’s statements were improperly induced by implied promises of leniency, we conclude that those statements should have been suppressed. We reverse and remand for a new trial.

On June 19, 1991, defendant was taking care of his six-month-old baby, Joshua, when the baby stopped breathing. After Joshua was rushed to the hospital, an examination revealed that he had two subdural hematomas1 that were two to three weeks old, an acute subdural hematoma that was a few hours to five days old, and retinal hemorrhages. X-rays indicated that the baby also had a broken leg and a broken arm, each at different stages of healing. Joshua’s examining and treating doctors concluded that he suffered from “shaken baby syndrome.”2

Joshua was hospitalized until July 15, 1991, and then released to a foster home. Because of the brain damage, Joshua’s brain atrophied to half of its normal size, which, in turn, weakened his reflex systems. The baby showed little improvement and, despite medication, suffered from recurring seizures. On February 9,1992, Joshua died. An autopsy revealed that he died of head injuries, terminal seizures, and aspiration of stomach contents. Joshua’s death was a direct result of the injuries that had occurred on or before June 19, 1991. After Joshua’s death, defendant was convicted of murder by abuse. ORS 163.115(l)(c).

Defendant assigns error to the trial court’s denial of his demurrer to the indictment for murder by abuse, arguing that the indictment was deficient in three respects. First, defendant argues that the terms “assault” and “pattern or [541]*541practice” used in ORS 163.115(1)(c)3 render the statute unconstitutionally vague under both Article I, sections 20 and 21, of the Oregon Constitution, and the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. In considering a vagueness challenge to a statute that does not implicate free expression, we consider only whether “application of the contested statute to the defendant’s conduct violates the ‘void for vagueness’ doctrine.” State v. Butterfield, 128 Or App 1, 7, 874 P2d 1339, rev den 319 Or 625 (1994). (Emphasis supplied.) Here, defendant does not assert that he was unable to determine that his conduct was prohibited by ORS 163.115(1)(c). See State v. Butterfield, supra, 128 Or App at 8. Rather, he presents an abstract challenge based on factual contexts other than his own. That is insufficient to support a vagueness challenge. State v. Zelinka, 130 Or App 464, 469, 882 P2d 624 (1994).

Defendant next contends that the murder by abuse statute is unconstitutionally overbroad in that, as written, the statute “encompasses potential defendants who were not intended to be within the reach of the statute.” A statute is overbroad

“to the extent that it announces a prohibition that reaches conduct which may not be prohibited. A legislature may make a law as ‘broad’ and inclusive as it chooses unless it reaches into constitutionally protected ground.” State v. Blocker, 291 Or 255, 261, 630 P2d 824 (1981).

Defendant does not argue that ORS 163.115(1)(c) is over-broad as applied to him; therefore, to successfully assert a facial overbreadth challenge, he must demonstrate that the murder by abuse statute infringes on constitutionally protected conduct. State v. Albee, 118 Or App 212, 217, 847 P2d 858, rev den 316 Or 528 (1993). Because defendant does not do so, his overbreadth claim fails.

[542]*542 Finally, defendant argues that the indictment violates ORS 132.550(7), because it fails to allege the specific incidents of abuse that the state intended to prove to show that he engaged in a “pattern or practice of assault or torture.”4 ORS 132.550(7) requires that an indictment set forth “a statement of the acts constituting the offense * * * in such manner as to enable a person of common understanding to know what is intended[.]” The functions of an indictment are:

“ ‘(1) to inform the defendant of the nature of the crime with sufficient particularity to enable him to make his defense, (2) to identify the offense so as to enable the defendant to avail himself of his conviction or acquittal thereof if he should be prosecuted further for the same cause, and (3) to inform the court of the facts charged so that it may determine whether or not they are sufficient to support a conviction.’ ” State v. Montez, 309 Or 564, 596-97, 789 P2d 1352 (1990) (quoting State v. Cohen, 289 Or 525, 529, 614 P2d 1156 (1980)).

An indictment that tracks the statutory language of the crime charged is generally considered sufficient to fulfill those functions. State v. Montez, supra, 309 Or at 597. Greater specificity may be required if the statutory language is not sufficiently clear to apprise defendants of the particular circumstances that make their conduct criminal and if discovery is not likely to cure the defect. State v. Kincaid, 78 Or App 23, 29-30, 714 P2d 624 (1986). Here, unlike in Kincaid, the statutory language, coupled with identification of the victim and his injuries, sufficiently notified defendant of the conduct the state intended to prove. Moreover, requiring the indictment to allege the specific dates that the incidents of assault and torture occurred would be unworkable, because the victim’s young age made it impossible to identify those dates. See State v. Zelinka, supra, 130 Or App at 471. Thus, the trial court properly denied defendant’s demurrer.

[543]*543Defendant next assigns error to the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress certain inculpatory statements he made to a police detective. Defendant asserts that those statements were induced by the detective’s implied promises of treatment instead of criminal prosecution. He contends, therefore, that their admission at trial violated his constitutionally and statutorily protected right against compelled self-incrimination. US Const, Amend V; Or Const, Art I, § 12; ORS 136.425(1). The state maintains that, even if the detective promised defendant treatment, that promise was not connected with any offer, either express or implied, to forgo prosecution.

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Bluebook (online)
888 P.2d 1054, 132 Or. App. 538, 1995 Ore. App. LEXIS 93, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-pollard-orctapp-1995.