State v. Roden

437 P.3d 1203, 296 Or. App. 604
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedMarch 20, 2019
DocketA163861
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 437 P.3d 1203 (State v. Roden) 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. Roden, 437 P.3d 1203, 296 Or. App. 604 (Or. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

DeVORE, J.

*606Defendant appeals a judgment of conviction for 11 offenses related to the death of his girlfriend's daughter and injuries to his girlfriend's sons. In his first of two assignments of error, he challenges the admission of expert testimony on bite marks, arguing that it failed to meet the Brown / O'Key standards for scientific evidence.1 The state concedes that the admission was erroneous, but argues that the evidence had little likelihood of affecting the jury's verdict as to any counts. We conclude that the error was harmless as to some counts but reversible for those counts related to homicide. In a second assignment of error, defendant asserts that the trial court improperly denied his motion to suppress evidence discovered during a search of his cellular phone. We conclude that the underlying warrant did not lack the particularity that Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution requires.2 We reverse and remand the judgment as to particular counts for which the admission of bite-mark evidence constituted reversible error. Otherwise, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Facts

Defendant and Wing met on Halloween in 2014. One week later, defendant moved into the apartment where Wing resided with her three young children, PK, PW, and EW. PK and PW, boys, were ages five and two respectively. EW, a girl, was approaching her third birthday. Defendant began caring for the children regularly when Wing was away at work. In the month and a half that followed, the children sustained numerous injuries. By December 19, EW had become quite lethargic. Then, in the early hours of December 20, EW was found dead in her bed.

Wing called 9-1-1 and police responded to the scene, followed by the county medical examiner. Defendant, Wing, PK, and PW went to the police station, where a Department *607of Human Services caseworker evaluated the boys and, noticing their injuries, took custody for further evaluation. The boys were taken to the Randall Children's Hospital in Portland. There, it was determined by a pediatrician who specialized in such matters that their injuries were indicative of child abuse. Meanwhile, the state's deputy medical examiner autopsied EW and concluded that she died from battered child syndrome with terminal blunt force head trauma.

As part of its investigation into the children's injuries and EW's death, the state obtained a warrant to search defendant's cellular *1205phone for all communications with Wing and any communications or stored items related to the children. The warrant specified the following temporal parameters:

"The period of time for the relevant records is between October 1, 2014 and December 20, 2014, however because the data may not be able to be located by date, a search of all information on the cellular device, to locate the listed records is authorized."

Forensic examiners used a device with specialized hardware and software to extract the information from defendant's cellular phone. As a result of that search, police obtained text messages discussing, among other things, discipline of the children, the children's injuries, attempts to conceal those injuries, and defendant's anger towards the children. The search also found photographs of the children's wounds.

Defendant was charged with fifteen offenses: four counts of aggravated murder, ORS 163.095 ; two counts of murder by abuse, ORS 163.115(1)(c)(A) and (B) ; one count of felony murder, ORS 163.115(1)(b)(J) ; one count of first-degree unlawful sexual penetration, ORS 163.411 ; one count of first-degree sexual abuse, ORS 163.427 ; three counts of first-degree assault, ORS 163.185 ; and three counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment, ORS 163.205.

B. Pretrial Motions

Before trial, defendant moved to exclude expert testimony regarding the children having bite marks, arguing *608that such opinions were scientifically unreliable under OEC 702, inadmissible under OEC 401 and OEC 403, and prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. After a hearing on the matter, the trial court denied defendant's motion.3

Defendant also moved to suppress evidence discovered on his cellular phone, partially on the basis that the underlying search warrant was overbroad. The trial court denied that motion, as well.

C. The State's Case

Over the course of a four-week jury trial, the prosecution and defense presented their cases. The state created a timeline to paint a picture of defendant's role in the abuse. It showed a family that, while not perfect, was generally healthy in the past. Wing held a job, the oldest child attended school, and, although Wing engaged in inappropriate discipline, the children's documented medical problems were few and minor. Photographs from the preceding summer depicted the children happy and injury-free.

The state contended that this all changed upon the arrival of defendant, a dishonest, drug-addicted, controlling, and abusive man with a history of aggression towards small children. The state noted that defendant, more so than Wing, cared for, and therefore had the opportunity to abuse, the children during the time leading up to the incident. The state also introduced the cellular phone communications, DNA evidence from clothing and the apartment, drug tests, and testimony from multiple acquaintances as evidence that defendant, not Wing, harmed the children.4 In addition, the state offered evidence to show the nature of the abuse and the extent of the children's injuries. The evidence included photographs of the children, defendant, and the apartment.

*609The state also called a number of medical experts to testify about the children's injuries and their potential causes.

Two medical examiners testified about EW's post-mortem condition: Nelson, who conducted the autopsy, and Giuliani, who responded to the scene of EW's death. Nelson testified that battered child syndrome with blunt force head trauma was the cause of death. He discovered hemorrhages in EW's scalp and skull and "significant trauma" in *1206

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Related

State v. Hauser
336 Or. App. 118 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2024)
State v. Hernandez-Marquez
326 Or. App. 831 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2023)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
437 P.3d 1203, 296 Or. App. 604, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-roden-orctapp-2019.