State v. Vargas-Torres

242 P.3d 619, 237 Or. App. 619, 2010 Ore. App. LEXIS 1187
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedOctober 6, 2010
Docket08C40521; A140475
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 242 P.3d 619 (State v. Vargas-Torres) 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. Vargas-Torres, 242 P.3d 619, 237 Or. App. 619, 2010 Ore. App. LEXIS 1187 (Or. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

*621 DUNCAN, J.

This is a criminal case in which defendant was convicted of second-degree sexual abuse, ORS 163.425, compelling prostitution, ORS 167.017, and two counts of third-degree rape, ORS 163.355. On appeal, defendant makes two assignments of error. We write only to address defendant’s first assignment of error, which challenges the trial court’s denial of defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal for compelling prostitution. Defendant argues that compelling prostitution, as defined by ORS 167.017, does not apply to patrons of prostitutes; instead, it applies only to third-party promoters of prostitution. As discussed below, the context and legislative history of ORS 167.017 establish that defendant’s argument is correct. Because there was no evidence that defendant was a third-party promoter, we reverse defendant’s conviction for compelling prostitution, remand for resentencing, and, because we reject defendant’s second assignment of error without discussion, otherwise affirm.

We review a trial court’s denial of a defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal to determine whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the state, a rational trier of fact could have found the elements of the charged crime beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Cervantes, 319 Or 121, 125, 873 P2d 316 (1994). So viewed, the relevant facts are as follows.

Defendant met S when she was 15 years old. He was her mother’s boyfriend’s boss. Defendant and S spent time talking on the phone and smoking and drinking with S’s older sister.

One day, defendant agreed to pick up S at school and drive her home. After defendant picked up S, he took her to a store, bought her cigarettes and alcohol, and then took her to a park. While at the park, defendant and S had sexual intercourse in defendant’s truck.

S testified that she did not want to have sexual intercourse with defendant and that she was upset afterwards. S told her sister about the incident, and they decided that they “should get some * * * money from [defendant] and stuff like that.” S explained that she “figured there was nothing *622 else that I could do to get him back for what he did, and so I figured I’d get something out of him somehow.” S decided that she could offer to have sexual intercourse with defendant again, but for money. S’s sister called defendant and arranged for defendant to pay to have sexual intercourse with S. As arranged, defendant picked up S, drove to a bank to get money, paid S the agreed upon amount, and then had sexual intercourse with her.

After that second sexual encounter, defendant and S talked regularly. Defendant would call S to arrange to spend time with her, and S would call defendant for “rides and whenever [she] needed cigarettes or money.”

The third and final sexual encounter between defendant and S occurred after S called defendant and “asked him to hang out.” Defendant drove S out to the country and the two had sexual intercourse. On the way home, S asked defendant for money. Defendant said he would give her the money later in the week, and he did.

Eventually, S told her mother about her relationship with defendant, and her mother called the police. Defendant was arrested and charged with first-degree rape, compelling prostitution, and two counts of third-degree rape. The compelling prostitution count alleged that defendant “did unlawfully and knowingly induce [S], a person under the age of 18 years, to engage in prostitution.” It alleged that defendant violated ORS 167.017(1)(b):

“A person commits the crime of compelling prostitution if the person knowingly:
“* * * * *
“(b) Induces or causes a person under 18 years of age to engage in prostitution^]”

Defendant waived his right to a jury and tried his case to the court. After the state presented its evidence, defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal on the compelling prostitution count. Defendant argued that he did not “induce” S to engage in prostitution. The state responded *623 that defendant “induced” S to engage in prostitution by paying her for sexual intercourse and by giving her rides, cigarettes, and alcohol. The state argued:

“[I]n this case you would not have had an act of prostitution without the participation of the defendant by picking her up, by providing her alcohol, by providing the payment for it, by providing the ride, and she told you on the stand that but for the payment, she wouldn’t have engaged in the sex. So without that encouragement of the money, she would not have engaged in the sex, there would have been no act of prostitution!.]”

The trial court ultimately agreed with the state. Relying on State v. Wood, 34 Or App 569, 579 P2d 294 (1978), discussed below, the court held that a person commits the crime of compelling prostitution if the person creates an opportunity for a minor to engage in prostitution and prevails upon her to do so. From there, the court reasoned:

“When one prevails upon one to do so, it’s just saying, yes, I will, I will take you to the bank, I will give you alcohol, I will take you to my car to consummate the act of prostitution.”

At the close of the case, the court found defendant guilty of second-degree sexual abuse (as a lesser-included offense of the charged first-degree rape), compelling prostitution, and two counts of third-degree rape. 1 This appeal followed.

On appeal, defendant renews his argument that he did not “induce” S to engage in prostitution for the purposes of ORS 167.017(1)(b). He argues that ORS 167.017(1)(b) applies only to third-party promoters of prostitution, not patrons of prostitutes. According to defendant, a patron does not “induce” a person to engage in prostitution by creating the opportunity for, and paying for, sexual conduct.

*624 Defendant’s argument raises a question of statutory-interpretation; we must determine what the legislature intended when it provided in ORS 167.017(1)(b) that a person commits the crime of compelling prostitution if the person “induces” a minor to engage in prostitution.

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State v. Vargas-Torres
242 P.3d 619 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
242 P.3d 619, 237 Or. App. 619, 2010 Ore. App. LEXIS 1187, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-vargas-torres-orctapp-2010.