State v. Shifflett

398 P.3d 383, 285 Or. App. 654, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 657
Court of Appeals of Oregon·Decided May 24, 2017·No. 13C43131; A156899·Published·Cited by 10 cases

Opinion

ORTEGA, P. J.

Defendant challenges his convictions for telephonic harassment under ORS 166.090(1)(b), which provides that a telephone caller commits the crime of telephonic harassment if the caller intentionally harasses or annoys another person: “By causing such other person’s telephone to ring, knowing that the caller has been forbidden from so doing by a person exercising lawful authority over the receiving telephone [.] ” Defendant argues that, because there was no evidence that his unauthorized phone calls to the victim’s telephone caused that phone to emit an audible sound, the trial court should have granted his motion for judgment of acquittal. The state counters that the legislature did not intend to require an audible sound, but rather intended to protect a person’s property interest in his or her telephone from trespass by a person making calls to that telephone after having been told not to do so. Accordingly, the state argues that the trial court correctly concluded that the statute can be violated by a person making an unauthorized call regardless of whether it causes the receiving party’s telephone to emit an audible sound. We conclude that the statutory text does not support the trial court’s conclusion that it is the act of making an unauthorized call that violates the statute. Rather, the plain and unambiguous text of ORS 166.090(1)(b) requires the other person’s telephone “to ring,” which we interpret to mean that the telephone must emit an audible sound. Accordingly, we reverse defendant’s convictions for telephonic harassment.

We review the denial of a motion for judgment of acquittal to determine whether, after viewing the facts and all reasonable inferences that may be drawn from those facts in the light most favorable to the state, “‘a rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proved beyond a reasonable doubt.’” State v. Koenig, 238 Or App 297, 301, 242 P3d 649 (2010), rev den, 349 Or 601 (2011) (quoting State v. Schneider, 229 Or App 199, 201, 211 P3d 306 (2009)). However, when the dispute “‘centers on the meaning of the statute defining the offense, the issue is one of statutory construction,”’ which we review for legal error. State v. Hunt, 270 Or App 206, 210, 346 P3d 1285 (2015) (quoting State v. Wray, 243 Or App 503, 506, 259 P3d [657]*657972 (2011)). We state the relevant facts consistently with that standard.

On June 7, 2013, defendant began calling and sending text messages to the victim. Given the tone of some of those calls and messages, the victim contacted the police. The next morning, the victim answered a call from defendant and told him not to call her anymore. Later that morning, the victim discovered two voicemail messages from defendant that had come through after she had instructed him to stop calling her.

Defendant was charged by information with one count of harassment (Count 1), ORS 166.065,1 and two counts of telephonic harassment (Counts 2 and 3), ORS 166.090(1)(b). The telephonic harassment counts were based on the allegation that defendant, “on or about June 8, 2013, *** did unlawfully and intentionally harass and annoy [the victim] by causing the telephone of [the victim] to ring, knowing that said defendant had been forbidden from so doing by [the victim.]”2 At trial, the state proceeded on the theory that, after the victim told defendant not to call her on the morning of July 8, defendant violated ORS 166.090 (1)(b) by calling the victim’s phone and leaving two voicemails. That is, the state’s case was based on evidence of the two voice-mails left by defendant, not any other call or message. At the close of the state’s case, defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal, arguing:

“Your honor, it’s required that my client caused [the victim’s] telephone to ring, and the State has to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. I heard absolutely no evidence [658] to the best of my recollection of a telephone ringing from anyone. I think for that reason alone [defendant] is entitled to a Judgment of Acquittal at this time. It’s part of the statute Your Honor. We simply did not hear any evidence of a telephone ringing.”

The court denied defendant’s motion, concluding: “I don’t think it has to be a traditional ring tone to count as a ring for purposes of the statute. Causing the phone call to be initiated or triggered on the phone I think is the meaning of ring as used here.” A jury acquitted defendant of harassment, but found him guilty of the two counts of telephonic harassment.

Defendant appeals, arguing that, to violate ORS 166.090(1)(b), he had to have caused the victim’s telephone to emit an audible sound (i.e., “ring”) after the victim told him not to call her anymore. He asserts that there was no evidence that he did so, and thus, the court should have granted his motion for judgment of acquittal. He posits that the applicable legislative history of the statute demonstrates that ORS 166.090 was drafted in a manner that was intended to avoid the constitutional problems that prior versions of the telephone harassment statute had encountered,3 but “nothing in the context or legislative history suggests that the legislature intended for the phrase ‘to cause a telephone to ring’ [to mean] anything other than to cause a telephone to make an audible sound.”

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State v. Shifflett, 398 P.3d 383, 285 Or. App. 654, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 657 (Or. Ct. App. 2017).

398 P.3d 383 (State v. Shifflett) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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