State v. Wesley

295 P.3d 1147, 254 Or. App. 697, 2013 WL 356723, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 109
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJanuary 30, 2013
Docket200823316, 200820014; A144180, A144179
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 295 P.3d 1147 (State v. Wesley) 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. Wesley, 295 P.3d 1147, 254 Or. App. 697, 2013 WL 356723, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 109 (Or. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

BREWER, J. pro tempore

Defendant was convicted of multiple offenses in two consolidated cases. In the first case, which involved events that occurred on September 3,2009, defendant was convicted of murder, attempted murder, unlawful use of a weapon, felon in possession of a firearm, and unlawful use of a vehicle. In the second case, which involved events that occurred on September 4,2009, defendant was convicted of second-degree assault, assaulting a public safety officer, and second-degree criminal mischief. Defendant raises three issues on appeal, all of which concern the murder, on September 3, 2009, of WJW and the surrounding events. First, he asserts that the trial court should have granted his motion for judgment of acquittal on the murder count, on the ground that the doctrine of “transferred intent” is not codified in Oregon law. Second, he argues that an eyewitness’s identification of him at the scene of the murder should not have been admitted into evidence because it was the product of suggestive police procedure and was not otherwise shown to be reliable. Third, defendant makes an unpreserved argument that the trial court erred in instructing the jury on the “natural and probable consequences” of an accomplice’s actions. We reject that argument without discussion because defendant failed to preserve it, as required by ORCP 59 H. See State v. Alonzo, 249 Or App 149, 274 P3d 889, rev den, 352 Or 377 (2012).

With respect to the issue of transferred intent, as explained below, we conclude that the trial court correctly determined that the transferred intent doctrine for the crime of murder still exists in Oregon law. As for defendant’s eyewitness identification challenge, as explained below, we conclude that his convictions in the September 3 case must be reversed and remanded with instructions to the trial court to conduct a new hearing on that issue in light of the Oregon Supreme Court’s recent decision in State v. Lawson / James, 352 Or 724, 291 P3d 673 (2012).

Because defendant was convicted after a jury trial, we set out the facts in the light most favorable to the state. State v. Johnson, 342 Or 596, 598, 157 P3d 198 (2007), cert den, 552 US 1113 (2008). In the early morning hours of [700]*700September 3, defendant and Smith went to WJW’s house, looking for WJW’s boyfriend, Anderson. They entered the garage and turned off the power to the house, then left and stole a car, intending to return. Meanwhile, WJW and Anderson discovered that the garage had been entered and the power had been turned off. WJW left the house in her car, and Anderson left on foot. Defendant and Smith saw WJW’s car leaving and followed it. WJW pulled over to pick up Anderson, and, as she did so, defendant and Smith both shot at Anderson from the car that they had stolen. Anderson ducked behind the far side of WJW’s car, and then shot back at defendant and Smith with a flare gun. One of the bullets from Smith’s gun, a .45, struck and killed WJW. Defendant’s shot from a shotgun hit a nearby house. Anderson was not injured.

Detective Turner arrived at the scene shortly thereafter. Anderson gave him a false name and birth date. Turner asked if Anderson knew who the shooter was, and Anderson indicated that the car had been driven by someone named “Ronnie” whose last name he did not know. Anderson was not able to give any description of “Ronnie,” and he was unsure whether there had been more than one person in the car. Anderson initially indicated that he believed that WJW had been shot because someone had tried to pick her up in a bar the previous evening.

Anderson was taken to the police station where he was interviewed by Detective Boring several hours after the shooting. Anderson told Boring that he could not identify anyone who had been in the car and that “he had no idea who was in that vehicle.” Anderson gave Boring information indicating that, several days earlier, Anderson had been involved in a drug deal that had gone bad and that, among other people, Morris and Smith also had been involved. Boring located Morris, who identified Smith. Anderson was shown a picture of Smith, and he identified Smith as having been involved in the drug deal. Smith was arrested later that day and implicated himself and defendant in the shooting of WJW. Defendant was then arrested as well.1

[701]*701After defendant’s arrest, Boring showed Anderson a photograph of defendant and asked if he knew the person in the photograph. Anderson stated that he “did not know who it was and had never seen him before.” When Anderson was shown the photograph of defendant, he knew that the depicted person had been apprehended as a suspect in WJW’s murder. At no time did Anderson provide the police with any physical description of anyone who had been in the car during the shooting.

Approximately five months later, Anderson spoke with WJW’s father, who told Anderson that Smith had confessed and indicated that there were two people in the car. WJW’s father told Anderson that the police had said that Anderson could not identify the people in the car. Anderson told WJW’s father that that was not the case and that he had identified defendant when the police had showed him defendant’s photograph. WJW’s father told Anderson “to talk to the district attorney or talk to the police and tell them that you could identify [defendant].” Detective Myers followed up with Anderson, who indicated that he had recognized both Smith and defendant from the photos that Boring had showed him. Anderson told Myers that Boring had been mistaken in reporting that Anderson was not able to identify the shooters.

Anderson testified at a pretrial hearing concerning the admissibility of his identification of defendant that he had lied to the police in his initial interviews and that he had, in fact, recognized defendant as one of the shooters when he was shown defendant’s photograph. He indicated that he had not wanted to cooperate with the police because he wanted to retaliate against defendant himself. Anderson indicated that he was able to see Smith driving the car, that he recognized Smith from the earlier drug deal, and that he also saw defendant in the car. Evidence was also adduced at the pretrial hearing that Smith — who had confessed to the crimes — had stated that he was the passenger in the car and that defendant was the driver, although before he had accepted a plea bargain, Smith had stated that he— Smith — was the driver.

[702]*702The trial court ruled that Anderson would be permitted to testify as to his identification of defendant:

“The police did not follow their normal procedure in showing witness [Anderson] a single photo of the defendant; that process unfairly singled out the defendant as was suggestive. However, at the time of that showing, [Anderson] did not identify the defendant as one of the occupants of the drive-by vehicle. Mr. Anderson testified he had an opportunity to get a good look at those occupants; he was watching the vehicle closely as it approached and passed by quite closely; it was morning and well lit at the time. Anderson testified he kept the other car in sight because he was fearful it might stop and the occupants get out. Anderson’s testimony itself was inconsistent with, and in some regards contradicted, his earlier statements to police. He was, however, certain in his testimony and certain of what he saw at the time of the shooting. Anderson’s prior inconsistent statements go to the weight of his identification testimony rather than its admissibility.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
295 P.3d 1147, 254 Or. App. 697, 2013 WL 356723, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 109, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-wesley-orctapp-2013.