State v. Woolard

484 P.2d 314, 259 Or. 232
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedApril 29, 1971
DocketC-50699,
StatusPublished
Cited by96 cases

This text of 484 P.2d 314 (State v. Woolard) 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. Woolard, 484 P.2d 314, 259 Or. 232 (Or. 1971).

Opinions

[233]*233DENECKE, J.

1. The question in this case is whether the defendant can be convicted and sentenced for the crimes of burglary and larceny, both of which arose out of the same criminal conduct and were charged in two counts in the same indictment.

The indictment charged the defendant with burglary in a dwelling, committed on March third by breaking* and entering Apartment 434 with the intent to steal. The second count charged her with larceny in a dwelling, committed on March third by stealing property in Apartment 434. The evidence was that the defendant broke into Apartment 434 and stole property. At the close of the evidence the defendant moved for an acquittal on one or the other of the counts upon the ground that they had identical elements. The jury convicted the defendant on both counts and the trial court sentenced her on each count to sin years in the penitentiary, the sentences to run concurrently. The defendant appealed and the Court of Appeals affirmed.

When we granted the petition for review we were of the opinion that possibly a constitutional issue was involved. Both parties stated at oral argument that no constitutional issue was involved and our study causes us to reach the same conclusion.

In attempting to identify the problem we believe it significant that in this case a course of conduct violates two separate statutes. This situation should be distinguished from a course of conduct which violates the same statute several times. State v. Clark, 46 Or 140, 80 P 101 (1905). We also believe the problem is not identical to that in which the defendant is prosecuted in successive trials for crimes arising out [234]*234of the same conduct. Hoag v. New Jersey, 356 US 464, 78 S Ct 829, 2 L Ed2d 913, reh den 357 US 933, 78 S Ct 1366, 2 L Ed2d 1375 (1958), hut see Ashe v. Swenson, 397 US 436, 90 S Ct 1189, 25 L Ed2d 469 (1970).

In deciding the issue before us, courts have used various lines of reasoning. State v. McAfee, 78 NM 108, 428 P2d 647 (1967), held the defendant could be sentenced to consecutive terms for burglary and larceny. The court categorized the problem as one of “merger.”

“£* * * The true test of whether one criminal offense has merged in another * * * is whether one crime necessarily involves another, as, for example, rape involves fornication, and robbery involves both assault and larceny. * * * If a defendant commits a burglary and while in the burglarized dwelling he commits the crimes of rape or kidnapping, his crimes do not merge, for neither of them is necessarily involved in the other. When one of two criminal acts committed successively is not a necessary ingredient of the other, there may be a conviction and sentence for both. * * *’ ” 78 NM at 110-111.

In deciding whether a defendant could be tried a second time for another crime committed in the same course of conduct, this court has used a somewhat similar test. In State v. Stewart, 11 Or 52, 4 P 128 (1883), the issue was whether the defendant who had been convicted of assault and battery was put in double jeopardy by subsequently being convicted of kidnapping, both the assault and the kidnapping being accomplished by the same course of conduct. This depended, the court stated, upon whether the two crimes required the same proof.

“ £* # * The test is not whether the defendant has already been tried for the same act, but whether [235]*235he has been put in jeopardy for the same offence. A single act may be an offence against two statutes; and if each statute requires proof of an additional fact which the other does not, an acquittal, or conviction under either statute does not exempt the defendant from prosecution and punishment under the other.’ (Gray, J., in Morey v. Commonwealth, 108 Mass., 433.) * * 11 Or at 52-53. Accord, State v. Weitzel, 157 Or 334, 340, 69 P2d 958 (1937); State v. McDonald, 231 Or 48, 52-53, 365 P2d 494 (1962).

Without indicating whether this court continues to regard that test as the acceptable one to determine whether double jeopardy has been imposed, we do not consider that test as appropriate to determine whether the defendant can be convicted and sentenced for burglary and larceny both committed in the same course of conduct. The test is purely mechanical; it does not deal with the question of whether the legislature intended to allow the state to convict for both offenses. Remington and Joseph, Charging, Convicting, and Sentencing the Multiple Criminal Offender, 1961 Wis L Rev 528, 565.

This court and others have held that whether or not a defendant could be convicted either in single or successive trials for two offenses arising out.of the same course of conduct depends upon the intent of the legislature in enacting the statutes creating the offenses. State v. Howe, 27 Or 138, 44 P 672 (1895); State v. Nodine, 121 Or 567, 256 P 387 (1927); State v. Gerritson, 124 Or 525, 265 P 422 (1928).

The United States Supreme Court has used this same approach and decided whether the Congress intended to allow two convictions and sentences for crimes arising out of the same conduct, or only one. [236]*236In Prince v. United States, 352 US 322, 77 S Ct 403, 1 L Ed2d 370 (1957), the defendant was indicted, convicted and sentenced on two counts, — one for stealing money from a bank and the other for entering a bank with the intent to commit a robbery. The statute made each a crime. The Court held he could be sentenced for only one of these crimes:

“We hold, therefore, that when Congress made either robbery or an entry for that purpose a crime it intended that the maximum punishment for robbery should remain at 20 years, but that, even if the culprit should fall short of accomplishing his purpose, he could be imprisoned for 20 years for entering with the felonious intent.
“While reasonable minds might differ on this conclusion, we think it is consistent with our policy of not attributing to Congress, in the enactment of criminal statutes, an intention to punish more severely than the language of its laws clearly imports in the light of pertinent legislative history.” 352 US at 329.

The Oregon statutes, like the United States statutes interpreted in the two cases above cited, do not expressly indicate any legislative intent. ORS 164.230 provides:

“Any person who breaks and enters any dwelling house with intent to commit a crime therein, or having entered with such intent, breaks any dwelling house, or is armed with a dangerous weapon therein, or assaults any person lawfully therein, is guilty of burglary, and shall be punished upon conviction by imprisonment in the penitentiary for not more than 15 years.”

[237]*237ORS 164.320 provides:

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Bluebook (online)
484 P.2d 314, 259 Or. 232, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-woolard-or-1971.