State v. Ventris

96 P.3d 815, 337 Or. 283, 2004 Ore. LEXIS 528
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 19, 2004
DocketCC 96-1155; CA A110810; SC S49981
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 96 P.3d 815 (State v. Ventris) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Ventris, 96 P.3d 815, 337 Or. 283, 2004 Ore. LEXIS 528 (Or. 2004).

Opinions

[285]*285BALMER, J.

In this criminal matter, we are asked to decide whether a finding under the aggravated murder statute, ORS 163.095(2)(d), that defendant personally and intentionally killed the victim requires us to conclude as a matter of law that a conviction for “murder” based on the same event necessarily is a conviction for intentional murder, ORS 163.115(l)(a), rather than for felony murder, ORS 163.115(l)(b). The question matters in this case, because defendant faces the possibility of a longer sentence if his conviction was for intentional murder.

Following a bench trial, the trial court convicted defendant of robbery, murder, and two counts of aggravated murder. By concluding that defendant had committed aggravated murder, the trial court implicitly found that defendant had committed the murder personally and intentionally in the course of a robbery. On appeal, the Court of Appeals reversed the aggravated murder convictions based on an evi-dentiary ruling, affirmed the convictions for murder and robbery, and remanded. State v. Ventris, 164 Or App 220, 991 P2d 54 (1999) (Ventris I). On remand, the state dropped the aggravated murder charges, ánd the trial court sentenced defendant solely for felony murder and robbery. The state appealed defendant’s sentence, and the Court of Appeals again reversed, concluding that the trial court’s previous finding of intentionality required, as a matter of law, that the murder conviction be treated as a conviction for intentional murder rather than felony murder. State v. Ventris, 183 Or App 99, 50 P3d 1274 (2002) (Ventris II). We allowed defendant’s petition for review. We now conclude that, under the applicable murder statutes, a finding of intentional conduct as an element of an aggravated murder conviction does not require that a separate conviction for murder be treated as intentional murder and that, in this case, the trial court’s findings and the evidence demonstrate a conviction for felony murder rather than intentional murder.

The Court of Appeals recounted the facts as follows:

“This case arises from the murder of Vergil Crist in Scappoose during the early morning hours of August 10, [286]*2861996. Crist’s apartment had been burglarized, and the autopsy showed that he had been beaten on the head and chest with a rod and stabbed 13 times. Crist died as a result of the stab wounds. Circumstantial evidence suggested that defendant had been involved in the crime, and, ultimately, investigating officers recovered a pair of defendant’s pants that bore traces of Crist’s blood. Thereafter, defendant confessed that he and two unnamed accomplices had entered Crist’s apartment; that, when Crist surprised them, he had hit Crist in the head with the metal rod; that he had run away from the apartment, leaving his cohorts behind; and that, when he returned 20-30 minutes later, he did not see Crist but that his accomplices gave him a knife with some blood on it, which he discarded, and a wallet with cash. Defendant insisted that he did not stab Crist and was not present when Crist was stabbed.”

Id. at 101-02 (internal citations omitted).

The indictment charged defendant with six counts of aggravated murder, including two counts alleging that he personally and intentionally had committed homicide in the course of committing first-degree burglary and first-degree robbery. See ORS 163.095(2)(d) (defining one kind of aggravated murder). The indictment also charged defendant with one count of “murder” under ORS 163.115,1 one count of first-degree robbery under ORS 164.415, and one count of first-degree burglary under ORS 164.225. The murder count in the indictment stated that defendant “unlawfully and intentionally cause [d] the death of another human being,” thus suggesting that it alleged intentional murder under ORS 163.115(1)(a), rather than felony murder under ORS 163.115(1)(b). However, the indictment cited only ORS 163.115 and did not refer to a specific subsection or paragraph.

Pursuant to an agreement with the state, defendant waived a jury trial. After a bench trial, the trial court announced its findings of the facts of the crime. The court [287]*287concluded that defendant had entered the victim’s apartment to steal his belongings. At the time of the entry, defendant was intoxicated. Defendant encountered the victim in the apartment, the two struggled, and defendant stabbed the victim multiple times. Tests revealed that the blood on defendant’s pants was the victim’s. The trial court rejected defendant’s claim that he had entered the apartment with any accomplices and that the accomplice or accomplices had killed the victim.

The trial court found defendant guilty of two counts of aggravated murder, one count of murder, and one count of first-degree robbery. The trial court explained its reasoning in oral findings:

“It does not make sense to me that [defendant] would fail to name [accomplices] when his statement to Detective McBride simply amounts to a confession to a charge of Felony Murder. * * * I don’t believe there were two friends with [defendant]. I believe that [defendant] was the sole intruder into Mr. Crist’s apartment and I believe that [defendant] killed Mr. Crist.
* * * H*
“In summary, I believe that [defendant] entered Mr. Crist’s apartment for the purpose of committing theft which amounts to Burglary in the First Degree. When he encountered Mr. Crist he overcame Mr. Crist’s resistance to that theft by killing Mr. Crist. The commission of a killing during the commission of both the burglary and then a robbery.
“I do not believe, based on the evidence, that [defendant] killed Mr. Crist either for the purpose of concealing his identity or to conceal the commission of burglary or the robbery. Count One, Aggravated Murder. Short version, a killing committed in the course of committing Robbery in the First Degree, guilty.
“Count Two, Aggravated Murder, killing committed in the course of committing Burglary in the First Degree, guilty.
«Hi * * * *
“Count Seven, Murder, guilty.
“Count Eight, Robbery in the First Degree, guilty.”

[288]

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State v. Ventris
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
96 P.3d 815, 337 Or. 283, 2004 Ore. LEXIS 528, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-ventris-or-2004.