State v. Stout

415 P.3d 567, 362 Or. 758
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedApril 19, 2018
DocketCC 1101350CR; SC S064521
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 415 P.3d 567 (State v. Stout) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Stout, 415 P.3d 567, 362 Or. 758 (Or. 2018).

Opinion

FLYNN, J.

*569**760This case requires us to construe a pleading requirement that is unique to indictments charging a violation of the Oregon's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (ORICO), ORS 166.715 to 166.735. ORICO prohibits various forms of involvement with a "pattern of racketeering activity," including conspiring or endeavoring to participate in an "enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity." ORS 166.720(3) and (4). The legislature has specified that, when an indictment charging an ORICO violation contains "an allegation of a pattern of racketeering activity," the indictment must include certain specific details regarding "each incident" of racketeering that makes up the alleged pattern. ORS 166.720(6).

The indictment at issue in this case charged defendant with "conspir[ing] and/or endeavor[ing]" to participate in an "enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity consisting of theft." The parties agree that the indictment is insufficient under the standard set by ORS 166.720(6) -if it applies-but disagree about whether the indictment contains "an allegation of a pattern of racketeering activity" within the meaning of ORS 166.720(6). The Court of Appeals held that ORS 166.720(6) applies to the indictment and, because the indictment did not include the details that the statute requires, that the trial court erred in refusing to grant defendant's demurrer to the indictment. The state challenges that decision, contending that "an allegation of a pattern of racketeering activity," as used in ORS 166.720(6), refers to a charge based on incidents of racketeering activity that have actually occurred and not to a charge of conspiring or endeavoring to make that the activity occur, as alleged here. We allowed review to consider that question and now conclude that the Court of Appeals was correct. Accordingly, we affirm.1

**761I. BACKGROUND

Before describing the pertinent facts, which are entirely procedural, we begin with a brief overview of the legal framework into which those facts fit.

A. Indictment Requirements, Generally

Both the Oregon Constitution and Oregon statutes address the requirements for an indictment. The constitution guarantees to every person accused of a crime the right to "demand the nature and cause of the accusation against him[.]" Or. Const., Art. I, § 11. More specific requirements for the contents of an indictment are set out in various Oregon statutes, including ORS 132.550, which provides in pertinent part:

"The indictment shall contain substantially the following:
"* * * * *
"(7) A statement of the acts constituting the offense in ordinary and concise language, without repetition, and in such manner as to enable a person of common understanding to know what is intended[.]"

Under those general standards, an indictment ordinarily is sufficient if it "tracks the pertinent wording of the statute defining the crime." State v. Fair , 326 Or. 485, 490, 953 P.2d 383 (1998).

B. A "Pattern of Racketeering Activity"

As we have previously explained, ORICO was modeled on and closely parallels the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act statute, under which violations turn "on the multiplicity of crimes and the 'organized character' of those crimes, which together suggested that some form of organization was behind their commission." State v. Walker , 356 Or. 4, 18-19, 23 n. 9, 333 P.3d 316 (2014). Through the ORICO statutes, the 1981 legislature made it unlawful to *570engage in a broad variety of conduct including, as pertinent to this case, participating in an "enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity," or conspiring or **762endeavoring to do so. Or. Laws 1981, ch. 769, §§ 3, 4; ORS 166.720(3), (4).2

To understand the issue that this case presents, it is important to understand the concept of a "pattern of racketeering activity," so we turn to the various definitions that illuminate that concept.

"Racketeering activity" is any one of an identified list of crimes, often called "predicate offenses" or "predicate acts." The term is defined in part as follows:

" 'Racketeering activity' *** means to commit, to attempt to commit, to conspire to commit, or to solicit, coerce or intimidate another person to commit:
"(a) Any conduct that constitutes a crime, as defined in ORS 161.515, under any of the following provisions of the Oregon Revised Statutes:
"* * * * *
"(K) ORS 164.015, 164.043, 164.045, 164.055, 164.057, 164.075 to 164.095, 164.098, 164.125, 164.135, 164.140, 164.215, 164.225 and 164.245 to 164.270, relating to theft, burglary, criminal trespass and related offenses[.]"

ORS 166.715(6)(a)(K).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
415 P.3d 567, 362 Or. 758, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-stout-or-2018.