State v. Valle

298 P.3d 1237, 255 Or. App. 805, 2013 WL 1233269, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 345
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedMarch 27, 2013
Docket09C48555; A145111
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 298 P.3d 1237 (State v. Valle) 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. Valle, 298 P.3d 1237, 255 Or. App. 805, 2013 WL 1233269, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 345 (Or. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinions

DUNCAN, J.

In this criminal case, defendant appeals the trial court’s judgment of conviction and sentence, assigning error to the trial court’s exclusion of impeachment evidence. For the reasons explained below, we conclude that the trial court erred in excluding the evidence and that the error was not harmless. Therefore, we reverse and remand.1

Defendant was charged with two counts of first-degree sodomy, ORS 163.405, and four counts of second-degree sexual abuse, ORS 163.425. The charges were based on allegations by M, defendant’s stepdaughter.

In 2008, when M was 16 years old, she wanted to move out of the family home and marry her boyfriend. After defendant and M’s mother objected, M sought to be emancipated. In May 2008, M spoke with Officer Puente, her high school’s resource officer, about her desire to be emancipated. During that conversation, M told Puente that defendant had touched her on the knee and that it had made her uncomfortable.

In October 2008, M ran away from home and moved in with her boyfriend and his mother. M’s mother reported that M had run away. Puente discovered that M was living with her boyfriend and his mother, and he brought M back to her home. In November 2008, M told Puente that defendant had sodomized and sexually abused her on several occasions between 2004 and 2008. Based on M’s allegations, the Department of Human Services (DHS) filed a dependency case. The juvenile court took jurisdiction over M, and DHS placed her in foster care. M was represented by an attorney in the dependency case. On behalf of M, who is not a United States citizen, M’s attorney applied for a U visa on the ground that M was a victim of abuse. See 8 CFR § 214.14 (describing U visas).

[807]*807During the trial in this case, defendant sought to cross-examine M about the fact that she had applied for the U visa. The parties and the court discussed the issue outside the presence of the jury. The prosecutor told the court that a U visa is a “form of visa that allows a victim of a crime to remain in the country.” She also told the court that her office had “sign[ed] off” on M’s application, a process in which, as the prosecutor described it, her office certifies that the applicant “is in fact the victim of a crime who’s participating in a criminal prosecution.” Defense counsel told the court that a U visa is “a form of visa that a person gets if they’re a victim of domestic violence or sexual abuse and they have to be that—be in fact a victim in order for that to be granted for them,” and he asserted that M’s application for the visa was relevant to “her motive to fabricate.” The court then questioned defense counsel about the visa:

“THE COURT: How long does it last?
“[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: I believe it lasts as long as they’re in the country if it’s been established that they’re actually a victim.
“THE COURT: So if she’s a victim, she can get a visa for 100 years?
“ [DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Or she can eventually obtain citizenship that way.
“THE COURT: Do you know that for a fact?
“[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: I do not know the end day of it, but I do know from previous cases that—
“THE COURT: I’m not going to let you go into it. I don’t know enough about it. Frankly, I don’t think you do either”

(Emphasis added.) Defense counsel then made an offer of proof, questioning M:

“[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: [Y]ou have applied— actually, I guess I need to back up. You are not a United States citizen, correct?
“THE WITNESS: Correct.
“ [DEFENSE COUNSEL]: And you have applied for permission to stay in this country now that you’re 18?
[808]*808“THE WITNESS: Yes.
“[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: And the nature of that application was under this domestic violence or sexual abuse violence victims?
“THE WITNESS: Uh-huh.
“[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: I believe it’s part of the Violence Against Women Act, if I recall correctly.
“THE WITNESS: It’s not a woman. It’s not for womans [sic] it’s just like a juvenile—it’s like for young—for, well, it doesn’t matter the age, but like it’s a four-year—it’s just for four years, the U visa, and then if I apply to do it again, then it could go to like stay here for like four more years, and then after that, like residency if I will have nothing like tickets and that.
“[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Is it your understanding and belief that whether or not that gets granted for you, hinges on whether or not you are a victim of sex abuse?
“THE WITNESS: Yes. It’s not really like if it’s I’m a victim, it’s like what happened in the case and if I was abused.
“[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: This would end my offer of proof, Your Honor.
“THE COURT: All right. And as I say, none of us seemfs] to understand it quite well enough to allow it in or out. Bring the jury back. I guess another way to put it is based upon what I’ve heard the visa is—the cause of the visa is speculative, at best.”

(Emphases added.)

Thus, it was undisputed before the trial court that (1) a U visa is a type of visa available to victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse, (2) M had applied for a U visa on the ground that she had been abused, and (3) the prosecutor’s office had “sign[ed] off” on M’s application, certifying that M was a victim of a crime and was participating in a criminal prosecution. In addition, it was apparent that M understood that her eligibility for the visa was dependent on whether she had been abused; she had applied for the visa on the [809]*809ground that she had been abused, and, when asked whether her eligibility for the visa hinged on whether she was a victim of sexual abuse, she answered, “Yes. It’s not really like if it’s I’m a victim, it’s like what happened in the case and if I was abused” (Emphasis added.) It was also apparent that M understood that the visa would benefit her; she had applied for it, and she testified that it would enable her to stay in the country for four years, could be renewed for another four years, and, after that, she could become a resident.

The trial court ruled that defendant could not question M about her application for the U visa, stating that “none of us seem[s] to understand it quite well enough to allow it in or out” and that “the cause of the visa is speculative, at best.” Thus, it appears that the trial court excluded the evidence on the ground that defendant had failed to present sufficient information about the eligibility requirements of the U visa and, therefore, had failed to establish that evidence of M’s application for the visa was relevant.

Whether evidence is relevant is a question of law, which we review for errors of law.

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

Related

State v. Martinez
341 Or. App. 10 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2025)
Ramirez v. Marsh
New Mexico Supreme Court, 2025
Gonzalez v. State
Court of Appeals of Maryland, 2024
State v. Brockway
Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2024
People v. Ulloa CA5
California Court of Appeal, 2023
People v. Villasenor CA5
California Court of Appeal, 2023
State v. Juan A. G.-P.
346 Conn. 132 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 2023)
State v. Houston
511 P.3d 51 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2022)
State v. Dickerson & Reecy
2022 S.D. 23 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 2022)
State v. Alvarez-Lopez
501 P.3d 1141 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2021)
State v. Hassan
501 P.3d 1096 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2021)
State v. Celso M. Deleon-Yuja
Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2021
State v. Kennedy
480 P.3d 986 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2021)
Harper v. Washburn
479 P.3d 1101 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2020)
People v. Villa
California Court of Appeal, 2020
State of Washington v. Jose Manuel Quintero
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2020
State v. Naudain
452 P.3d 970 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2019)
State v. Crum
403 P.3d 405 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2017)
Romero-Perez v. Commonwealth
492 S.W.3d 902 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 2016)
State v. Thomas
379 P.3d 731 (Columbia County Circuit Court, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
298 P.3d 1237, 255 Or. App. 805, 2013 WL 1233269, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 345, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-valle-orctapp-2013.