State v. Sullivan

288 P.3d 1004, 253 Or. App. 103, 2012 WL 5286178, 2012 Ore. App. LEXIS 1295
Court of Appeals of Oregon·Decided October 24, 2012·No. 090237FE; A143645·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

WOLLHEIM, J.

A jury found defendant guilty of two counts of sodomy in the first degree, ORS 163.405, and two counts of sodomy in the second degree, ORS 163.395. On appeal, defendant asserts that the trial court erred in denying his request for a jury instruction. Defendant argues that the state presented two theories about how the jury could find the required element of forcible compulsion — that is, physical force or a threat — to commit sodomy in the first degree, and the court should have instructed the jury that it had to agree on the theory for defendant’s guilt. Accordingly, defendant argues, the trial court was required to instruct the jury that it had to agree on the type of forcible compulsion defendant used.1 The state contends that forcible compulsion is an element of the crime of sodomy in the first degree and that the state was permitted to present alternative evidence to establish that element. We agree with the state and therefore affirm.2

“We review a trial court’s refusal to give a requested instruction for errors of law in light of the facts that are most favorable to defendant.” State v. Greeley, 220 Or App 19, 21, 184 P3d 1191 (2008).

Defendant and the victim met in the summer of 2007, when the victim was 13 years old and defendant was 35, and they lived in the same trailer park. At trial, the victim testified that one time defendant made her get on her knees and suck his penis and that defendant said that he would kill her if she did not comply. The victim said that the sexual encounter ended when defendant ejaculated and forced her to swallow the ejaculate. The victim also testified that, a few days later, in defendant’s bedroom, defendant made her pull her pants down and defendant penetrated her anally, causing her to bleed. The victim said that that sexual encounter ended when he ejaculated. The victim said that, although defendant did not threaten her during the [105] second incident, she was still scared of defendant from the first incident.

In the state’s closing argument, the prosecutor stated:

“Now, the Judge described to you what forcible compulsion was, and you heard the testimony. As far as the definition of forcible compulsion goes, to compel by either physical force or a threat, express or implied, that places a person in fear of immediate or future death or physical injury.
“We know that she testified that he took her head and forced it down to his exposed penis. That’s using physical force. In addition to that, she stopped, attempted to scream, he told her ‘I’ll kill you.’ That’s a threat. That’s not actually an implied threat, that’s an express threat.
“After it was completed and he had ejaculated, he said to her, ‘Don’t tell anyone. I’ll kill you.’ * * * [W]hen he flips her over the next time and puts her down on the bed, she still is going under that implied threat. That’s what constitutes the force.”

Defendant argued that the state presented two different theories about how the jury could find forcible compulsion — physical force or a threat — and therefore the jury should have been instructed to find that defendant used one type of forcible compulsion before the jury could find that defendant committed the crime of sodomy in the first degree. The court denied defendant’s request for the instruction. All 12 jurors found defendant guilty of two counts of sodomy in the first degree and two counts of sodomy in the second degree.

On appeal, defendant challenges his convictions for sodomy in the first degree, arguing that the trial court erred in denying his requested instruction. The state asserts that the trial court did not err. Accordingly, we begin our analysis with an overview of the law related to when a trial court is required to give such a jury instruction.

In State v. Boots, 308 Or 371, 373, 780 P2d 725 (1989), an aggravated murder case, the Supreme Court held that it was error for the trial court to instruct the [106] jury that it need not agree on the factual circumstance that made the homicide aggravated murder as distinct from simple murder. The indictment had charged two theories of aggravated murder: that the homicide was committed in the course and in furtherance of committing robbery in the first degree, under ORS 163.095(2)(d), and that the defendant committed the homicide in order to conceal the identity of the perpetrators of the robbery, ORS 163.096(2)(e). Id. at 374. The court concluded that each aggravating factor was an essential element of aggravated murder and that the jury must concur on the element. Id. at 377. The court noted, “We are not speaking here of factual details, such as whether a gun was a revolver or a pistol and whether it was held in the right or the left hand. We deal with facts that the law (or the indictment) has made essential to a crime.” Id. at 379. As stated in State v. Lotches, 331 Or 455, 472, 17 P3d 1045 (2000), cert den, 534 US 833 (2001), the general rule is that “a jury must be instructed concerning the necessity of agreement on all material elements of a charge in order to convict.”

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

State v. Sullivan, 288 P.3d 1004, 253 Or. App. 103, 2012 WL 5286178, 2012 Ore. App. LEXIS 1295 (Or. Ct. App. 2012).

288 P.3d 1004 (State v. Sullivan) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Randant v. Cain
342 Or. App. 353 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2025)
State v. Beckner
466 P.3d 1000 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2020)
State v. Ramirez
333 P.3d 358 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2014)
State v. Lee
2014 UT App 4 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2014)