State v. Scott

388 P.3d 1148, 283 Or. App. 566, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 113
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedFebruary 1, 2017
DocketC130545CR; A156426
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 388 P.3d 1148 (State v. Scott) 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. Scott, 388 P.3d 1148, 283 Or. App. 566, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 113 (Or. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

GARRETT, J.

Defendant appeals a judgment of conviction for two counts of unlawful delivery of methamphetamine, ORS 475.890, and one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine, ORS 475.894. In her first assignment of error, defendant challenges the trial court’s failure to merge her guilty verdicts for delivery (Count 1) and possession (Count 2) into a single conviction for delivery under ORS 161.067(1). Defendant also assigns error to the trial court’s imposition of a general condition of probation requiring defendant to permit a probation officer to conduct home visits pursuant to ORS 137.540(l)(h),1 contending that the condition is unlawful under both the state and federal constitutions. For the reasons explained below, we conclude that the trial court did not err in either respect and, accordingly, we affirm.

The facts pertinent to this appeal are few and undisputed. Police executed a search warrant on defendant’s residence, finding 13.2 grams of methamphetamine, packaging materials, a scale, $383 in cash and records of drug transactions. Based on that evidence, defendant was charged by indictment with, among other things, one count of delivery of methamphetamine (Count 1) and one count of possession of methamphetamine (Count 2). Both counts alleged additional facts—commonly referred to as “subcategory factors”—to elevate the crime seriousness of the charged offenses pursuant to ORS 475.900. See State v. Baker, 265 Or App 500, 503, 336 P3d 547 (2014) (“The state may allege subcategory factors to elevate the charged offense on the crime-seriousness scale for purposes of the felony sentencing [569]*569guidelines.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.)); see also ORS 132.557 (requiring the state to plead “any subcategory fact on which the state intends to rely to enhance the crime for sentencing purposes”). The indictment alleged that each offense was a “commercial drug offense,” ORS 475.900(l)(b), and involved “substantial quantities” of a controlled substance, ORS 475.900(l)(a). Specifically, and as pertinent to this appeal, the indictment states:

“The state further alleges that the above described offense involved substantial quantities of a controlled substance, consisting of 10 grams of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, methamphetamine salts, isomers, or salts of isomers.
“The state further alleges that the above-described offense was a commercial drug offense in that it was accompanied by at least three of the following factors:
«⅜ ‡ ‡ ‡ ⅜
“4. Defendant was in possession of more than 8 grams of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine.”

Defendant agreed to a stipulated-facts trial, at the conclusion of which the court found defendant guilty on both counts.2 Additionally, the court found that each count constituted both a commercial drug offense and involved substantial quantities of methamphetamine. The effect of that finding was to elevate the crime-seriousness rating of both offenses to an eight under the sentencing guidelines.

At sentencing, the trial court entered separate convictions on Counts 1 and 2, rejecting defendant’s argument that the guilty verdicts on those counts should merge into a single conviction for delivery. The trial court sentenced defendant to five years’ probation subject to all of the general conditions of probation found in ORS 137.540(1), including that defendant “ [p] ermit the parole and probation officer to visit the probationer or the probationer’s work site or residence and to conduct a walk-through of the common areas [570]*570and of the rooms in the residence occupied by or under the control of the probationer.” ORS 137.540(l)(h). Defendant timely appealed, assigning error to the imposition of that probation condition as well as the trial court’s failure to merge the guilty verdicts on Counts 1 and 2.

We begin with defendant’s merger argument. Merger is governed by ORS 161.067, which provides, in part:

“(1) 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.”

Under our case law, that provision requires merger when “a defendant’s acts constitute the same conduct or criminal episode, violate two or more statutory provisions, and all the elements of one offense are necessarily included in the commission of the other offense.” State v. Flores, 259 Or App 141, 144, 313 P3d 378 (2013), rev den, 354 Or 735 (2014); see also State v. Blake, 348 Or 95, 99, 228 P3d 560 (2010) (“[I]f one offense contains X elements, and another offense contains X+l elements, the former offense does not contain an element that is not also found in the latter offense [and] *** there is only one separately punishable offense.”). In determining whether convictions must merge, we look to the statutory elements of each offense rather than the factual details set out in the indictment. State v. Fujimoto, 266 Or App 353, 357, 338 P3d 180 (2014). In this case, the parties’ merger dispute turns on whether all of the elements of the crime of possession of methamphetamine (ORS 475.894) are subsumed within the crime of delivery of methamphetamine (ORS 475.890).

Defendant was found guilty of violating ORS 475.890, which provides that it is “unlawful for any person to deliver methamphetamine,” and ORS 475.894, which provides that it is “unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally to possess methamphetamine.” Defendant acknowledges that, ordinarily, possession and delivery drug offenses do not merge. See State v. Sargent, 110 Or App 194, 198, 822 P2d 726 (1991) (holding that “possession and delivery do not [571]

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Related

State v. Silva
330 Or. App. 352 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2024)
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
388 P.3d 1148, 283 Or. App. 566, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 113, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-scott-orctapp-2017.