State v. Swinney

343 Or. App. 22
Court of Appeals of Oregon·Decided August 27, 2025·No. A178162·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

22 August 27, 2025 No. 757

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF OREGON

STATE OF OREGON, Plaintiff-Respondent,

v.

ALAN JAMES SWINNEY,

Defendant-Appellant.

Multnomah County Circuit Court 20CR50067; A178162

Heidi H. Moawad, Judge. Argued and submitted June 12, 2024. Kyle Krohn, Deputy Public Defender, argued the cause for appellant. Also on the brief was Ernest G. Lannet, Chief Defender, Criminal Appellate Section, Office of Public Defense Services.

Leigh A. Salmon, Assistant Attorney General, argued the cause for respondent. Also on the brief were Ellen F. Rosenblum, Attorney General, and Benjamin Gutman, Solicitor General.

Before Ortega, Presiding Judge, Powers, Judge, and Hellman, Judge.

ORTEGA, P. J. Remanded for resentencing; otherwise affirmed.

Cite as 343 Or App 22 (2025) 23 24 State v. Swinney

ORTEGA, P. J. Defendant appeals a judgment convicting him of multiple offenses for his conduct at two protests in downtown Portland, raising five assignments of error.1 In his first assignment , defendant contends that the trial court erred when it instructed the jury on the common-law doctrine of transferred intent—specifically, that the jury could convict him of second- degree assault (Count 5) on the theory that defendant intended to injure a particular unnamed person with a paintball gun and actually injured the named victim, JB. In his second assignment, defendant contends that the trial court erred in entering a judgment convicting him of Count 5 on that theory. In his third through fifth assignments, defendant contends that the trial court erred when it overruled his objection to the state’s rebuttal closing argument, ordered him to pay per diem fees for the first time in the judgment, and imposed an indefinite term of post-prison supervision (PPS) on Count 8.

We conclude that the second-degree assault statute, ORS 163.175, does not require that a defendant intend to assault and actually injure the same person, as defendant contends . We therefore reject defendant’s first and second assignments of error. We further conclude that defendant failed to preserve the argument he advances on appeal with regard to the trial court overruling his objection to the state’s rebuttal closing argument and that we cannot review his claim of error as plain error. Finally, we accept the state’s concessions that the trial court plainly erred in ordering per diem fees and erred in imposing an indefinite PPS term on Count 8. We therefore remand for resentencing and otherwise affirm.

BACKGROUND

We briefly state the relevant historical and procedural facts, which are undisputed on appeal, and include additional facts in our analysis of each assignment of error. In the summer of 2020, various right-wing groups organized 1 A jury convicted defendant of attempted fourth-degree assault, ORS 161.405 and ORS 163.160 (Count 1); second-degree unlawful use of an electrical stun gun, tear gas or mace, ORS 163.212 (Counts 2 and 11); attempted second-degree assault, ORS 161.405 and ORS 163.175 (Count 3); unlawful use of a weapon, ORS 166.220 (Counts 4, 7, and 8); second-degree assault, ORS 163.175 (Count 5); menacing, ORS 163.190 (Count 9); pointing a firearm at another, ORS 166.190 (Count 10); and fourth-degree assault, ORS 163.160 (Count 12).

Cite as 343 Or App 22 (2025) 25

“flag wave” events in support of the police and in opposition to ongoing racial justice protests following the murder of George Floyd in May of that year. Defendant travelled from Texas to participate in two such events held at the Justice Center in downtown Portland, both of which drew left-wing counter-protesters. At both events, defendant sprayed people in the face with bear mace and shot people with a paintball gun. At the second event, defendant also pointed a loaded gun at individuals in the crowd.

Defendant’s first three assignments of error pertain to the circumstances giving rise to Count 5. As to that second- degree assault charge, the state alleged that at the first event “on or about August 15, 2020, * * * [defendant] did unlawfully and intentionally and knowingly cause physical injury to [JB], by means of a dangerous weapon, to wit: [a] paintball gun[.]” At trial, JB testified that defendant shot him in the eye with a paintball gun, causing long-term degradation of JB’s eyesight. JB acknowledged that defendant might have been aiming at the person to his left. The state also presented evidence that defendant posted a video on social media that showed defendant, who is White, shooting JB, who is also White, in the eye with a paintball gun and admitting to doing so. The video also showed an unidentified young Black man wearing a white shirt and a gas mask, who was standing directly to JB’s left when he was hit with a paintball.

Defendant raised self-defense and defense of others to justify his use of physical force. As to Count 5, defendant testified that he fired his paintball gun at the unidentified young Black man, and one paintball struck JB inadvertently.

At the state’s request and over defendant’s objection , the trial court instructed the jury that it could convict defendant of second-degree assault on Count 5 on the theory that he intended to injure an unidentified person but in fact injured JB, as follows:

“In the context of [Count 5], you will be asked to consider whether the concept of transferred intent applies. Transferred intent applies when a person unlawfully and intentionally attempts to injure another, but the shot or blow takes effect upon and causes injury to someone else instead.

26 State v. Swinney

“In that situation, the person’s intent to injure the intended victim is transferred to the victim who was actually injured. In other words, the identity of the victim is immaterial if the intent to injure is established, and an injury to a person results[.]

“* * * In order to reach a lawful verdict as to this count, you must unanimously agree on whether or not the state has proved this count under the concept of transferred intent, or that the defendant intentionally or knowingly injured [JB].”

The verdict form accordingly presented the jury with two theories for Count 5. The jury found defendant not guilty of having “intentionally or knowingly caused physical injury to [JB] by means of a dangerous weapon, to-wit: a paintball gun,” but it found defendant guilty of having “intended to cause physical injury to an unidentified person by means of a dangerous weapon, to-wit: a paintball gun, and [JB] was injured.” The court accepted the verdict and entered a judgment that convicted defendant of Count 5.

TRANSFERRED INTENT

In his first assignment of error, defendant challenges the trial court’s instruction to the jury on transferred intent as to Count 5. In defendant’s view, the second-degree assault statute, ORS 163.175, requires that a defendant intend to engage in assaultive conduct toward the same person that is injured as a result of that conduct. He argues that the common-law doctrine of transferred intent does not apply to second-degree assault because it is not expressed in any Oregon statute, including the text of the assault statutes , and has only been applied to murder, the rationale for which is not present in the assault context. In the state’s view, ORS 163.175 requires only that the defendant intend to cause physical injury to another, not a particular person . The state argues that the plain text of ORS 163.175 incorporates the doctrine of transferred intent, which the Commentary to the 1971 Criminal Code expressly confirms.

We conclude that the elements of second-degree assault, as codified in the text of ORS 163.175, encompass intentional assaultive conduct toward one person that actually (seriously) injures another. Thus, contrary to defendant’s

Cite as 343 Or App 22 (2025) 27

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