State v. Valdez

283 P.3d 77, 283 Or. App. 77, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 1594
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedDecember 21, 2016
DocketCR1300156; A156707
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 283 P.3d 77 (State v. Valdez) 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. Valdez, 283 P.3d 77, 283 Or. App. 77, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 1594 (Or. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

TOOKEY, J.

Defendant appeals a judgment of conviction for two counts of first-degree rape, ORS 163.375, two counts of first-degree sodomy, ORS 163.405, two counts of first-degree unlawful sexual penetration, ORS 163.411, and two counts of first-degree sexual abuse, ORS 163.427. Defendant raises six assignments of error. We write only to address defendant’s first, third, and fifth assignments of error, and we reject the remainder without further discussion. In his first assignment of error, defendant argues that the trial court erred when it overruled his objection to “the prosecutor’s staging of an emotional statement” by the victim. In his third assignment of error, defendant argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal on the second count of first-degree rape. In his fifth assignment of error, defendant argues that the trial court erred in imposing $16,000 in attorney fees without proof of his ability to pay them. For the reasons that follow, we reverse the portion of the judgment requiring defendant to pay attorney fees and otherwise affirm.

We state separately the facts pertinent to each of defendant’s assignments of error. We begin with defendant’s third assignment of error—that the trial court erred by denying defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal on the second count of first-degree rape. We state the facts in the light most favorable to the state and review those facts to determine whether a rational trier of fact could have found defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Cunningham, 320 Or 47, 63, 880 P2d 431 (1994), cert den, 514 US 1005 (1995).

In December 2012, the victim and two of her close friends attended a meeting with a visiting counselor at their high school. During that meeting, one of the victim’s friends disclosed that she had been sexually abused, and the counselor told a similar story involving one of the counselor’s relatives. The victim then disclosed that, when she was younger, she had been the victim of similar abuse by defendant, her uncle. A few days after the victim’s disclosure to the counselor, Officer Lundervold interviewed the victim. The victim told Officer Lundervold that, when she was younger, her [80]*80mother would drop her off at defendant’s residence so that defendant could babysit her while her mother went to work. The victim told Officer Lundervold that defendant “touched her everywhere on her body,” used his hands to touch her breast area, put his fingers into her vagina on more than one occasion, put his penis into her mouth several times, and attempted to put his penis into her vagina “at least twice.” The victim explained that, during one of defendant’s attempts of putting his penis into her vagina, she did not think that defendant put his penis “all the way in” because she did not remember it hurting.

As part of the state’s investigation, the victim visited the Children’s Center, where she was interviewed and physically examined. During the interview, the victim stated that defendant had touched her “boobs” underneath her clothing, put his fingers inside her vagina, and, on two occasions, tried to put his penis inside her vagina. The victim told the Children’s Center interviewer that “she wasn’t sure if [defendant’s penis] went in all the way the first time, because it didn’t hurt, but the second time [the victim] said it did hurt.” The physical examination at the Children’s Center revealed that the victim had a transected hymen, leading the evaluator to find that the victim’s statements were consistent with the diagnosis of sexual abuse.

At trial, the victim testified and reiterated her previous allegations. When asked whether defendant “enter [ed] [her] vagina with his penis,” the victim responded, “he wouldn’t do it all the time, but I remember one time he did.” Later, the prosecutor used a paper cup to analogize a vagina and asked the victim to distinguish between “touching on top” and “insertion.” The victim testified that both— touching and insertion—happened “at least twice.” The prosecutor tried to clarify the victim’s inconsistent testimony by asking how the victim knew that defendant’s penis was inside of her. The victim testified that she knew it was not defendant’s fingers inside of her because “it would hurt more,” defendant was lying on top of her, and that she was “certain it [happened] only once.” Officer Lundervold testified regarding his interview with the victim. The Children’s [81]*81Center nurse also testified regarding her physical examination of the victim and the interview she had witnessed the victim give at the Children’s Center.

At the close of the state’s case, defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal on the second count of first-degree rape. As to that motion, the following arguments were made:

“[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: First, I think there is one that we can’t dispute, which is that [the victim] stated on the stand that she had only * * * had sexual intercourse once. As the Court is well aware, there are two charges of rape in the first degree that are charged as separate and distinct acts from each other. I think the record was abundantly clear. I made sure on cross-examination she said only once. She said it very, very clearly. ‘Yes, I am sure it was only once.’
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“[PROSECUTOR]: [The victim] clearly unequivocally said once. That’s inconsistent with what she told the [Children’s Center nurse] in some fashion. Or is it? Because the [Children’s Center nurse] clarified that only one time it hurt. My interpretation of [the victim’s] testimony was she clearly remembers one time, because it really hurt. The other one she seemed to be backing off of, disengaging from, stressing not so much.
“There is evidence there from the testimony from [the Children’s Center nurse] that there were two times. This prosecutor is not going to be stressing that evidence. In my closing argument, I will be getting up and telling the jury that they can only find one rape, because I don’t think there is sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt two. That’s what I intend to do.
“I think that would take care of this problem. There is, in the light most favorable to the State, evidence that suggests that this fact finder could believe that there are two, and the testimony of [the Children’s’ Center nurse], because that evidence is just as admissible as the direct testimony and witnesses are inconsistent all the time. Child witnesses are inconsistent all the time. There is evidence in the record that this is not uncommon. This is a matter of discretion for the jury; that the fact finder could find from this evidence that there were two.”

[82]*82The trial court denied defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal. During the prosecution’s closing argument, the prosecutor argued:

“There were two rape in the first degree charges, and they relate, if you recall, [the Children’s Center nurse], the fact as she testified, the interview at the Children’s Center, [the victim] talked about two times.

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Related

State v. Giurculete
346 Or. App. 298 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2025)
State v. Valdez
391 P.3d 1002 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2017)
RH v. State, Department of Family Services
2011 WY 128 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2011)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
283 P.3d 77, 283 Or. App. 77, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 1594, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-valdez-orctapp-2016.