State v. Taylor

340 P.3d 68, 266 Or. App. 813, 2014 Ore. App. LEXIS 1534
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedNovember 13, 2014
DocketD091262T; A152039
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 340 P.3d 68 (State v. Taylor) 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. Taylor, 340 P.3d 68, 266 Or. App. 813, 2014 Ore. App. LEXIS 1534 (Or. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

EGAN, J.

Defendant appeals from a judgment of conviction for misdemeanor driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII), ORS 813.010. He assigns error to the trial court’s imposition of a “DUII conviction fee.” Defendant argues that, because the fee that the court imposed was greater than that authorized by statute when defendant committed the crime, the fee violated the ex post facto clauses of the Oregon and United States constitutions. The plaintiff moves to dismiss the appeal on the ground that we lack jurisdiction over defendant’s claim under ORS 138.050. We agree and, therefore, dismiss defendant’s appeal without reaching its merits.

The facts are procedural. In 2009, a jury convicted defendant of DUII. Defendant appealed that conviction, and we reversed and remanded his case to the trial court. State v. Taylor, 247 Or App 339, 268 P3d 795 (2011). On remand, defendant pleaded guilty, and on June 22, 2012, the court entered a judgment of conviction. Because defendant had already completed the requirements of his original sentence, the trial court imposed a sentence of discharge. But, before releasing defendant of any further obligations upon conviction, the court noted a change in the law. The court observed that, since defendant’s original conviction, the legislature had increased the “DUII conviction fee” set by ORS 813.030 from $130 to $255. The court also observed that the amended statute required courts to impose the increased fee regardless of when the offense occurred, so long as the court convicted the defendant after the effective date, which had already passed.1 Defendant argued that the court must impose a fee of $130, the amount required in 2009 when defendant committed the crime and was originally convicted, to avoid violating the ex post facto clauses of the Oregon and United States constitutions. The trial court disagreed with defendant and imposed the higher fee.

On appeal, defendant renews his argument. As noted, the state responds that we must dismiss this case [815]*815because we lack jurisdiction under ORS 138.050(1). We agree with the state and, accordingly, dismiss this appeal.

We begin by noting a fundamental principle of appellate jurisdiction: “A party does not have an inherent right to appellate court review; the right to appeal is wholly statutory and an appellant must establish that the decision from which the appeal is taken is appealable under some statutory provision.” Waybrant v. Bernstein, 294 Or 650, 653, 661 P2d 931 (1983). Apropos of defendant’s claim here, we recently observed that, “[w]hen the appeal is from a judgment based on a plea to a misdemeanor, jurisdiction lies, if at all, under ORS 138.050(1) and the scope of issues that this court may review is also governed by that statute.” State v. Davis, 265 Or App 425, 432, 335 P3d 322 (2014).

ORS 138.050(1) provides:

“Except as otherwise provided in ORS 135.335, a defendant who has pleaded guilty or no contest may take an appeal from a judgment or order described in ORS 138.053 only when the defendant makes a colorable showing that the disposition:
“(a) Exceeds the maximum allowable by law; or
“(b) Is unconstitutionally cruel and unusual.”

In turn, ORS 138.053(1) provides, in part:

“A judgment, or order of a court, if the order is imposed after judgment, is subject to the appeal provisions and limitations on review under ORS 138.040 and 138.050 if the disposition includes any of the following:
“(a) Imposition of a sentence on conviction.”

Defendant contends that we have jurisdiction over this case because his claim fits within the confines of ORS 138.050 (l)(a).2 To support that contention, he argues that the $255 fee, which the court imposed under ORS 813.030 (2012), “ [e]xceeds the maximum allowable by law” because that fee is greater than the fee authorized by the statute that [816]*816the trial court should have applied — that is, ORS 813.030 (2009). But, in light of the Oregon Supreme Court’s recent interpretation of ORS 138.050(1) in State v. Cloutier, 351 Or 68, 261 P3d 1234 (2011), we reject defendant’s argument.

In Cloutier, the defendant was convicted after a plea of no contest and challenged the trial court’s imposition of a fine in an amount greater than the statutory minimum but less than the statutory maximum. Id. at 70-71. The defendant argued that the fine violated his right to due process guaranteed by the federal constitution because the trial court imposed an additional $100 as a consequence of defendant having pleaded no contest. Id. The state responded that, under ORS 138.050(1), Oregon appellate courts did not have jurisdiction of the defendant’s appeal. Id. at 71.

Arguing that Oregon appellate courts did have jurisdiction, the defendant relied on a broad reading of ORS 138.050(l)(a), the same provision on which defendant relies in this case. Specifically, the defendant in Cloutier argued that the meaning of the word “law” as used in the phrase “[e]xceeds the maximum allowable by law” was broad enough to include constitutional protections such as the right to due process. Id. at 96. After a thorough review of the text, context, and legislative history of ORS 138.050(1), the court rejected defendant’s reading of the statute, concluding that

“the reference to a disposition that ‘[e]xceeds the maximum allowable by law’ in ORS 138.050

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Related

State v. Soto
343 P.3d 666 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2015)
State v. Buckles
342 P.3d 116 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
340 P.3d 68, 266 Or. App. 813, 2014 Ore. App. LEXIS 1534, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-taylor-orctapp-2014.