State v. Woodson

845 P.2d 203, 315 Or. 314, 1993 Ore. LEXIS 8
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 11, 1993
DocketCC C89-05-32774 CA A64036 (Control) CA A62899 SC S39583
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 845 P.2d 203 (State v. Woodson) 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. Woodson, 845 P.2d 203, 315 Or. 314, 1993 Ore. LEXIS 8 (Or. 1993).

Opinion

*316 VAN HOOMISSEN, J.

Defendant appeals his conviction of attempted rape in the first degree. 1 He contends that the trial court erred by amending the indictment. The issue is whether the amendment altered the substance of the indictment. The Court of Appeals concluded that the amendment altered the substance of the indictment and reversed. State v. Woodson, 113 Or App 688, 833 P2d 1339 (1992). For the reasons stated below, we reverse the Court of Appeals’ decision and affirm the trial court’s judgment.

The first formal charge against defendant was a District Attorney’s information dated May 30,1989, charging him with attempted rape in the first degree. On June 6,1989, defendant was indicted. 2 Although count 1 in the indictment was captioned “Attempted Rape in the First Degree,” the body of the indictment read as follows:

“The said defendant, on or about May 7,1989, in the County of Multnomah, State of Oregon, did unlawfully and knowingly, by forcible compulsion, engage in sexual intercourse with [victim], a female, contrary to the Statutes in such cases made and provided and against the peace and dignity of the State of Oregon.”

Before trial, the prosecutor told the court that the grand jury had intended to charge defendant with attempted rape in the first degree but that, due to a “scrivener’s error,” the body of the indictment charged the completed crime of *317 rape. 3 The prosecutor asked the court to amend the text of the indictment to charge the lesser crime. Defendant objected, arguing that the amendment altered the substance of the indictment and that the state therefore was required to obtain a new indictment. He relied primarily on Article VII (Amended), section 5(6), of the Oregon Constitution. 4 The court overruled defendant’s objection and amended the indictment by interlineation by adding the words “attempt to” before the words “engage in sexual intercourse with [victim]. ” The case was tried to a jury, which found defendant guilty of attempted rape in the first degree.

On appeal, defendant contended that the trial court erred in amending the indictment. The Court of Appeals agreed, and reversed and remanded for a new trial. We allowed the state’s petition for review.

The state contends that the Court of Appeals erred in holding that the amendment altered the substance of the indictment, arguing that the amendment merely cured a “scrivener’s error” and, therefore, that it was permitted by Article VTI (Amended), section 5(6). See State v. Moyer, 76 Or 396, 399-401, 149 P 84 (1915) (explaining distinction between substance and form). 5

*318 In State v. Wimber, 315 Or 103, 114, 843 P2d 424 (1992), this court set forth an analysis for determining whether an amendment to an indictment is a permissible alteration as to form. We will inquire:

“(1) Did the amendment alter the essential nature of the indictment against defendant, alter the availability to him of defenses or evidence, or add a theory, element, or crime?” 6

In this case, the answer to that question is “no.”

‘ ‘ (2) Did the amendment prejudice defendant’s right to notice of the charges against him and to protection against double jeopardy?”

Again, in this case the answer is “no.”

“(3) Was the amendment itself sufficiently definite and certain?”

In this case, the answer is “yes.”

The fourth question in the Wimber analysis — “Did the remaining allegations in the indictment state the essential elements of the offenses?” — relates to deleting allegations. Id. In this case, no words were deleted physically, but the allegation of a completed act of intercourse was deleted in effect by virtue of the addition of the words “attempt to.” As to Wimber’s fourth question, the remaining allegations in the indictment, after the amendment, stated all of the essential elements of the crime of attempted rape in the first degree.

The trial court’s amendment in this case also satisfied the concerns expressed by the dissent in State v. Wimber, supra, 315 Or at 116 (Unis, J., dissenting). The amendment protected the right of the grand jury, not the prosecutor, “to determine whether a particular charge should be brought” and “to insure that the charge presented against a defendant was based on facts found by the grand jury.” Id. at 118. 7 *319 Neither is this a case of “ ‘A prosecution for an offense other than that the grand jury had in mind,’ ” a possibility about which the dissent in Wimber also expressed concern. Id. at 123, quoting LaFave and Israel, 2 Criminal Procedure 451, § 19.2. Rather, the amendment here was for the express purpose of prosecuting the exact crime that “ ‘the grand jury had in mind.’ ” Id. Because the amendment did not serve to amend the substantive decision of the grand jury in an impermissible fashion, it did not violate Article VII (Amended), section 5(6). 8

ORS 136.460 provides:

“Upon a charge for a crime consisting of different degrees, the jury may find the defendant not guilty of the degree charged in the accusatory instrument and guilty of any degree inferior thereto or of an attempt to commit the crime or any such inferior degree thereof.”

Attempted rape is a lesser included offense of rape. Even if the indictment had not been amended, the jury could have found defendant guilty of attempted rape in the first degree. ORS 136.460; see State v. Washington, 273 Or 829, 835, 543 P2d 1058 (1975) (generally, ORS 136.460 gives the state the right to receive jury instructions as to the crime of attempting to commit the charged offense); State v. Gibbons, 228 Or 238, 241-42, 364 P2d 611 (1961) (“It is a well established rule that an indictment of one offense includes, by necessary implication, charges of lesser included offenses.”). 9 Thus, the interlineation effected no change in the indictment; the indictment already charged defendant with, and he could have been convicted of, attempted rape.

*320

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Bluebook (online)
845 P.2d 203, 315 Or. 314, 1993 Ore. LEXIS 8, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-woodson-or-1993.