State v. Wideman

124 P.3d 1271, 203 Or. App. 359, 2005 Ore. App. LEXIS 1635
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedDecember 21, 2005
DocketCR0200958; A121805
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 124 P.3d 1271 (State v. Wideman) 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. Wideman, 124 P.3d 1271, 203 Or. App. 359, 2005 Ore. App. LEXIS 1635 (Or. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

*361 WOLLHEIM, J.

The state appeals from an order granting defendant’s motion to dismiss pursuant to ORS 135.765. That statute authorizes a trial court to dismiss a case if the state fails to bring an incarcerated defendant to trial within 90 days, unless the court finds good cause to continue the case. We affirm.

Defendant was indicted for possession of a controlled substance in Clackamas County in July 2002. On November 20, 2002, he failed to appear for his trial because he was incarcerated at the Snake River Correctional Institution (SRCI) serving a sentence on an unrelated conviction. On February 21, 2003, the district attorney received a notice from defendant requesting a trial pursuant to ORS 135.760. 1 ORS 135.763 requires a defendant who makes such a request to be brought to trial within 90 days of receipt of such notice, with certain exceptions. 2 In this case, the 90-day period ended on May 21, 2003. In March, the district attorney arranged for the transport of defendant from SRCI to Clackamas County for a pretrial hearing, where a trial date of May 7, 2003, was set. On April 21, 2003, defendant’s attorney sent an e-mail message to the prosecutor who was handling defendant’s case. The e-mail message stated,

“Any objection to a continuance on State v. Wideman set for trial on May 7? I will be speaking at a conference in Seattle *362 that day. I spoke with [defendant] and he agrees to a continuance until the week of May 19 and waives his speedy trial rights.”

The prosecutor responded by e-mail, stating, “No problem [.]” Defendant’s attorney then filed a motion to continue the trial. In an affidavit attached to the motion, defendant’s attorney stated,

“I have spoken with my client about the scheduling conflict and he agrees to a continuance of the trial to the week of May 19, 2003, and waives his speedy trial rights in order to accomplish this continuance.”

On May 1, defendant decided to plead guilty and requested that the court set the case for a plea. The plea hearing was set for May 12. The state neglected to file a transport order and, as a result, defendant was not present at the scheduled hearing. The trial court reset the hearing for May 21, 2003. The state waited until May 15 to file a transport order, missing the deadline for the Clackamas County Sheriffs Department to transport defendant to court in time for the May 21 hearing. At the May 21 hearing, defendant’s attorney moved to dismiss the case on the ground that defendant’s speedy trial rights had been violated. 3 The state opposed the motion, arguing that ORS 135.760 no longer applied because defendant was no longer seeking a trial, but to enter a guilty plea, and that the statute only applied to persons in prison “seeking a trial.” Therefore, the state reasoned, by changing to a plea, defendant had waived his rights under the statute. The state also argued that there had not been enough time to file a transport order. The trial court took the *363 issue under advisement and issued a letter opinion later the same day, finding that,

“[a]fter reviewing the law pertaining to the defendant’s speedy trial rights, I conclude there is no legal support for the proposition that a plea setting tolls the 90-day trial deadline. Quite the contrary. ORS 135.765 allows for a tolling of the 90-day period only when continuance is requested by the defendants or the State for good cause shown, or when the inmate is unavailable for trial. Based on the facts as I have them, none of these provisions apply here. The case is dismissed with prejudice.”

The trial court also entered an order dismissing the case with prejudice. On June 2,2003, the trial court held another hearing on the issue. The state reiterated its argument that there was no right to a “speedy plea.” The state argued in the alternative that there was “no possible way” to have transported the defendant in time for the May 21 hearing and therefore there was “good cause” to grant a continuance. In support of that argument, the state asserted that the e-mail message and affidavit in which defendant stated that he “waived his speedy trial rights” had made it difficult for the state to determine the correct trial dates. Defendant argued that the speedy trial statute did apply to pleas and that, regarding the good cause issue, the state had known about the 90-day limitation since February and had twice failed to bring defendant to court when it had adequate notice as to the trial dates. The trial court agreed with defendant and declined to reverse its earlier order dismissing the case.

On appeal, the state argues that the trial court erred in granting defendant’s motion to dismiss under ORS 135.765. The state argues that defendant “expressly’ waived his rights to a speedy trial in the e-mail message and in the affidavit attached to the motion for a continuance, and that his conduct constituted a waiver because he “derailed” the process when he “kept changing the court dates.” The state also argues that defendant consented to the delay when he requested the continuance. Neither argument is preserved.

Generally, an issue not preserved in the trial court will not be considered on appeal. Ailes v. Portland Meadows, Inc., 312 Or 376, 380, 823 P2d 956 (1991). “[A] party must *364 provide the trial court with an explanation of his or her objection that is specific enough to ensure that the court can identify its alleged error with enough clarity to permit it to consider and correct the error immediately, if correction is warranted.” State v. Wyatt, 331 Or 335, 343, 15 P3d 22 (2000). Preservation rules are intended to advance goals such as ensuring that the position of a party is presented clearly to the trial court and that parties are not taken by surprise, misled, or denied opportunities to meet an argument. Davis v. O’Brien, 320 Or 729, 737, 891 P2d 1307 (1995). In addition, “[a] party should not be heard to argue that a trial court committed reversible error because it did not rule in that party’s favor on a ground never presented to it.” State v. Martin, 135 Or App 119, 124, 897 P2d 1187 (1995).

Here, the state argued to the trial court that ORS 135.763 did not apply to this case because defendant had decided to plead guilty rather than have a jury trial.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
124 P.3d 1271, 203 Or. App. 359, 2005 Ore. App. LEXIS 1635, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-wideman-orctapp-2005.