State v. Smith

312 P.3d 552, 259 Or. App. 36, 2013 WL 5634173, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 1242
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedOctober 16, 2013
Docket100949886; A147759
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 312 P.3d 552 (State v. Smith) 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. Smith, 312 P.3d 552, 259 Or. App. 36, 2013 WL 5634173, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 1242 (Or. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

NAKAMOTO, J.

Defendant appeals his conviction for interference with making a report, ORS 165.572. Under that statute, as relevant here, “[a] person commits the crime of interference with making a report if the person, by removing, damaging or interfering with a * * * telephone * * *, intentionally prevents or hinders another person from making a report to a * * * 9-1-1 emergency reporting system.” Defendant assigns error to the trial court’s denial of his motion for a judgment of acquittal, arguing that the state failed to introduce evidence that defendant’s actions hindered the victim’s 9-1-1 report. We reverse defendant’s conviction for interference with making a report and remand with instructions to enter a judgment of conviction for attempted interference with making a report. Otherwise, we affirm.

In reviewing the denial of a motion for a judgment of acquittal, we view the evidence and all reasonable inferences that may be drawn from it in the light most favorable to the state to determine whether a rational trier of fact could find that the state proved each element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Hall, 327 Or 568, 570, 966 P2d 208 (1998); State v. Lawrence, 231 Or App 1, 3, 217 P3d 1084 (2009), rev den, 347 Or 533 (2010). Consistent with that standard, the facts are as follows.

Defendant and his fiancée had been fighting at their apartment. Defendant’s fiancée called her friend, Russell, to help resolve the dispute. Russell arrived at the apartment and helped defendant move his belongings to his parents’ house. Afterward, defendant told Russell that he had friends he could stay with but that they were at a bar near the apartment. Russell agreed to drop defendant off at the bar so long as defendant promised not to return to the apartment.

Defendant agreed, and, after dropping him off at the bar, Russell returned to the apartment. Upon arriving at the apartment, Russell plugged her cellular phone, which had died, into a wall charger. Russell and defendant’s fian-cée had talked for about 10 minutes when Russell realized that she had left her purse in her truck. Russell left the apartment to retrieve her purse and encountered defendant [39]*39outside the apartment. Russell screamed at defendant, “I told you I would call the cops if you came back.” Defendant and Russell scuffled outside the apartment door, with both of them eventually entering the apartment.

Once inside, Russell went for her cellular phone, and defendant went to talk to his fiancee. Russell picked up her phone, which was still plugged into the wall charger, dialed 9-1-1, and told defendant “I’m calling 9-1-1 on you.” Defendant then approached Russell and, without touching her cellular phone, grabbed the charger cord and yanked on it. The charger cord disconnected from the phone, but defendant did not pull the phone out of Russell’s hand. Russell continued with her call to 9-1-1 despite defendant’s pulling on the charger cord, retaining her connection to 9-1-1 without redialing. Defendant then put the phone charger in his pocket, and as he left, he told Russell, “Good luck calling the cops now, bitch.”

Defendant was charged with harassment, ORS 166.065, interference with making a report, ORS 165.572, and theft in the third degree, ORS 164.043. At the close of evidence at trial, defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal on the interference charge on the ground that there was no evidence that defendant had intentionally prevented or hindered Russell from making her 9-1-1 call. Defense counsel argued:

“Best case scenario for the State is still, [defendant] yanks a phone cord, doesn’t get a phone out from [Russell’s] hand, doesn’t interfere with her making that call in any manner whatsoever.”

The court denied defendant’s motion. The jury acquitted defendant on the harassment charge but found him guilty on the interference and theft charges.

On appeal, defendant challenges only his conviction for interference with making a report and argues that ORS 165.572 requires the state to prove that defendant’s conduct caused a specific result, namely that it “prevent [ed] or hinder [ed] another person from making a report.” Applying the analytical framework in State v. Gaines, 346 Or 160, 206 P3d 1042 (2009), defendant further argues that the plain [40]*40meaning of “prevents or hinders” requires that a defendant’s actions, at minimum, have some detrimental effect on another person’s ability to make a report. The state agrees with defendant’s construction of the statute, and so do we. The parties disagree, however, over whether the state introduced evidence establishing that detrimental effect. Because we agree with defendant that it did not, we reverse defendant’s conviction.

We initially address what the state was required to prove. Beginning as we always do with the text, ORS 165.572(1) provides:

“A person commits the crime of interference with making a report if the person, by removing, damaging or interfering with a telephone line, telephone or similar communication equipment, intentionally prevents or hinders another person from making a report to a law enforcement agency, a law enforcement official, an agency charged with the duty of taking public safety reports or a 9-1-1 emergency reporting system.”

As an initial matter, ORS 165.572(1) plainly requires the state to prove that a defendant engaged in specific conduct and that the defendant intentionally caused a specific result. The structure of the statute provides that the state must prove three elements: First, the state must prove that the defendant took an action, specifically that he “remov[ed], damag[ed] or interfered] with a * * * telephone.” Second, the state must establish that the defendant’s act of removing, damaging, or interfering with a telephone had the effect of “prevent [ing] or hinder [ing] another person from making a report to *** 9-1-1.” Third, the state must show that the defendant did so intentionally. Thus, the act of interfering with a telephone is separate and distinct from its effect, namely the prevention or hindrance of another person from making a report.

We now focus on what the legislature intended by the phrase “prevents or hinders another person from making a report.” The legislature did not define the terms “prevents” and “hinders.” When no statutory definition exists, we presume that the legislature intended the terms to have their plain, natural, and ordinary meaning. PGE v. [41]*41Bureau of Labor and Industries, 317 Or 606, 611, 859 P2d 1143 (1993). The plain meaning of the verb “prevent” suggests stopping something from occurring altogether. State v. Hansen, 253 Or App 407, 412, 290 P3d 847 (2012). Common definitions of

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
312 P.3d 552, 259 Or. App. 36, 2013 WL 5634173, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 1242, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-smith-orctapp-2013.