State v. Tallman

78 P.3d 141, 190 Or. App. 245, 2003 Ore. App. LEXIS 1430
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedOctober 22, 2003
DocketCM0120164; A115559
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 78 P.3d 141 (State v. Tallman) 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. Tallman, 78 P.3d 141, 190 Or. App. 245, 2003 Ore. App. LEXIS 1430 (Or. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

BREWER, J.

The state appeals from a judgment of conviction and sentence, arguing that the sentence imposed by the trial court for one of defendant’s convictions is unlawful. On review for errors of law, ORS 138.222(4)(a), we vacate defendant’s sentences and remand the case for resentencing.

Defendant pleaded guilty to criminal mistreatment in the first degree.1 ORS 163.205. Under the sentencing guidelines grid block applicable to that conviction, the presumptive sentence for defendant’s crime was an incarceration term of 19 to 20 months. At the conclusion of the plea hearing, the court took the case under advisement for sentencing purposes.

Several days later, in an e-mail to the prosecutor and defense counsel, the trial court explained that

“there are substantial and compelling reasons to make a dispositional departure to probation. But in doing so the court also concludes that if the court is going to impose probation there are substantial and compelling reasons to do upward durational departures to 36 months custody time and a period of five years for the probation on the [criminal mistreatment] charge.
^ * * *
“The court will impose a period of 5 years supervised probation on the [c]riminal [m]istreatment charge * *

(Emphasis added.)

In a return e-mail, the state objected to the court’s proposed sentence. Relying on OAR 213-010-0002,2 the state argued that “the additional prison time the [c]ourt imposed will not be enforceable.” Apparently agreeing that a 36-month probation revocation sentence would exceed the [248]*248limitation stated in OAR 213-010-0002(2), defendant’s counsel responded that defendant was “prepared to waive any potential error should [his] probation be revoked.” The state reiterated its objection, stating that, if the sentence was unauthorized, defendant’s waiver might be unenforceable.

At the sentencing hearing, defendant agreed on the record to the trial court’s stated intent to impose a 36-month prison sentence if defendant violated probation. Also at the hearing, the court expressly adopted the departure findings made in its July 6, 2001, e-mail.

As pertinent here, the written judgment of conviction and sentence notes the existence of mitigating circumstances justifying a downward dispositional departure to probation and aggravating circumstances justifying an upward durational departure “on the amount of probation * * * time and the amount of prison time that will be imposed if the probation is violated” (Emphasis added.) In addition, among other findings, the judgment sets out “[t]he factors supporting the upward departure to a greater prison term upon revocation of the probation [sentence].” (Emphasis added.) The judgment recites, “The Court will impose a 5 year probation term (upward from 3 years presumptive) * * It also recites that, “[i]f the court revokes the defendant’s probation and imposes the prison sentence * * the court will not allow defendant to be considered for early release or other programs until he has served at least 21 months. See ORS 137.750. Finally, as pertinent here, the judgment contains a checked box indicating, “Imposition of sentence is suspended and * * * [defendant shall be placed on probation for 60 months” under the supervision of the county supervisory authority.

The state appeals, arguing that defendant’s sentence is flawed because, notwithstanding defendant’s purported waiver of objection to a probation revocation sentence of 36 months, under OAR 213-010-0002(2), his incarceration sentence upon revocation of probation cannot exceed the maximum presumptive prison term that initially could have been imposed — in this case, 20 months. The state also asserts that the trial court either unlawfully suspended imposition of, or unlawfully imposed and then suspended execution of, [249]*249the prison term, in violation of ORS 137.010(3) and (4).3 The state argues that the resulting invalidity of the sentence is apparent on the face of the judgment in three respects: because the judgment purports to suspend imposition (or, perhaps, execution) of a sentence; because it purports to impose both a downward dispositional departure and an upward durational departure on the same conviction; and because it recites that, upon revocation, defendant may not be considered for sentence reductions (as provided in ORS 137.750) until defendant has served at least 21 months, which itself exceeds the incarceration term to which defendant lawfully can be sentenced upon revocation. Alternatively, the state argues that the judgment is ambiguous. In either instance, the state urges this court to look behind the judgment and determine that the court “intended to impose a 36-month prison sentence and hold it in reserve,” that is, in effect, suspend its execution. Finally, the state argues that this court should correct the judgment despite the possibility that defendant’s probation might never be revoked and the possibility that, if it is revoked, the trial court might decide not to sentence him to 36 months. According to the state, “[sentencing judges should not operate under misconceptions about what sort of sanctions are available if defendants who are sentenced to probation violate probation.”

Defendant responds that, on its face, the judgment imposes nothing more than a valid dispositional departure sentence of probation and that, conversely, it does not impose, then suspend execution of, a 36-month incarceration term. Defendant acknowledges that the judgment refers to “an upward departure to a greater prison term” and that, in the context of the recitation of the court’s intentions regarding eligibility for sentence reductions under ORS 137.750, it [250]*250refers to a 21-month prison term. He asserts, however, that those references represent only the court’s intention that such a prison term “hang[ ] over” him as, in effect, an incentive to comply with the probationary term actually imposed. Defendant asserts that, consistently with that interpretation of the judgment, and in light of the uncertainty as to what sentence the court will actually impose if defendant’s probation is revoked, the state’s challenge to the judgment is not justiciable.

As noted, we review defendant’s sentence for errors of law. We first consider whether the state’s claim of error is justiciable — as pertinent here, whether it is “ripe” for judicial determination. See League of Oregon Cities v. State of Oregon, 334 Or 645, 663, 56 P3d 892 (2002). In order for a claimed error to be justiciable in that regard, the controversy must involve present facts as opposed to a dispute which is based on future events of a hypothetical nature. Id. (citing Brown v. Oregon State Bar, 293 Or 446, 449, 648 P2d 1289 (1982)).

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Related

State v. Burns
314 P.3d 288 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2013)
1000 Friends of Oregon v. Clackamas County
94 P.3d 160 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
78 P.3d 141, 190 Or. App. 245, 2003 Ore. App. LEXIS 1430, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-tallman-orctapp-2003.