State v. Zook

476 P.3d 508, 307 Or. App. 49
Court of Appeals of Oregon·Decided October 7, 2020·No. A169897·Published

Opinion

Argued and submitted February 11, affirmed October 7, 2020, petition for review denied March 18, 2021 (367 Or 709)

STATE OF OREGON, Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

DANA CHRISTINE ZOOK,

Defendant-Respondent.

Clackamas County Circuit Court 17CR25725; A169897

476 P3d 508

The state appeals from an order dismissing a charge that defendant had committed the offense of driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII). The state assigns error to the trial court’s extension of defendant’s diversion agreement upon finding that her initial efforts were in “good faith” and to the dismissal of the charge. Invoking ORS 813.225(4) and ORS 813.255(3), the state contends that the trial court lacked discretion to do so where defendant violated her diversion agreement by consuming alcohol. Held: Reading ORS 813.225 and ORS 813.255 together, the trial court may grant an extension of a diversion agreement, despite defendant’s violation of an alcohol condition, when the court finds that defendant made a good faith effort to complete the conditions of the diversion agreement and that the defendant can complete the conditions of the agreement within the extended diversion period. Accordingly, the trial court did not err in terminating the agreement and dismissing the DUII charge pursuant to ORS 813.225(8)(a).

Affirmed.

Douglas V. Van Dyk, Judge. Rolf Moan, Assistant Attorney General, argued the cause for appellant. Also on the brief were Ellen F. Rosenblum, Attorney General, and Benjamin Gutman, Solicitor General.

Andy Simrin waived appearance for respondent. Before DeVore, Presiding Judge, and DeHoog, Judge, and Mooney, Judge.

DeVORE, P. J. Affirmed. Mooney, J., dissenting.

50 State v. Zook

DeVORE, P. J. The state appeals from an order dismissing a charge that defendant had committed the offense of driving under the influence of intoxicants. The trial court dismissed the charge upon finding that defendant had successfully completed treatment under a diversion agreement. Defendant had done so after the court had extended the diversion agreement upon findings that her initial efforts were in “good faith,” that she had violated the agreement by consuming alcohol, and that she still could complete the conditions of the diversion agreement within the extended diversion period. The state assigns error to the court’s extension of the agreement and to the dismissal of the charge, contending that the trial court had no discretion but to act on defendant’s guilty plea and enter a judgment of conviction.

For the reasons that follow, we determine that the trial court had a choice, when finding defendant in violation but having acted in “good faith” to complete the diversion agreement, either to revoke or extend the diversion agreement to allow defendant the opportunity to complete it. Accordingly, we conclude that, after defendant’s successful completion of the extended diversion agreement, the trial court did not err in dismissing the charge. We affirm the order of dismissal.

The relevant facts are procedural and uncontested.

In March 2017, defendant drove with a blood alcohol content (BAC) exceeding 0.08 percent. The state charged her with driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII), ORS 813.010. Defendant pleaded guilty to the offense, and she petitioned to enter into a one-year DUII diversion agreement . The court accepted the guilty plea and entered an order withholding entry of a judgment of conviction pending completion or termination of the diversion agreement.

The order and diversion agreement required that defendant use an ignition interlock device, participate in a victim-impact panel, complete a recommended treatment program, pay required fees, and “comply with all terms in the Petition and Agreement.” The diversion agreement required, among other things, that, during the term of

Cite as 307 Or App 49 (2020) 51

diversion, defendant not use any alcohol or other intoxicant .1 The agreement warned that “the court will terminate the diversion agreement if at any time during the diversion period the court finds that [defendant] failed to fulfill all of the terms of the agreement.” It added that, “[i]f the court terminates [defendant’s] diversion agreement or [defendant] fail[s] to fulfill the terms of the agreement by the end of the diversion period, the court will sentence [defendant] without a trial.”

In early 2018, data from the company that monitored defendant’s ignition interlock device revealed that four breath tests over two months indicated she had BAC readings ranging from 0.022 percent to 0.039 percent. Upon receiving a letter from the company, the trial court entered an order to defendant to show cause as to why it should not terminate the diversion due to her failure to comply with the requirement to abstain from the use of alcohol.

At the show cause hearing, defendant stipulated that she was “in violation of the terms of the diversion program .” Through counsel, she reported that she had paid her fines and fees, attended the victim-impact program, and completed alcohol treatment. She advised that she had remained sober for a six-month period with no negative reports but admitted that, after emotional challenges, including the death of her grandmother, she “drank on a couple of occasions.” She admitted that she “knows she wasn’t supposed to” and insisted that she is committed to sobriety and “moving forward regardless of whether she’s on diversion or not.” Asking the court to “continue her on strict compliance,” defendant urged the court to extend the diversion agreement.

The state responded that the court only had authority under ORS 813.225 to grant an extension if defendant could complete the conditions of the diversion agreement, and, because defendant had already failed to do so, ORS 813.255 required the court to revoke diversion, enter the guilty plea, and impose a judgment of conviction.2 1 The diversion agreement incorporated another document, “Explanation of Rights and DUII Diversion Agreement,” which outlined those terms.

2 We review those statutes below.

52 State v. Zook

The trial court determined that it would allow defendant to continue the diversion program. The court cautioned defendant, “So from this point forward, it is strict compliance and you’ll have to restart your alcohol treatment. You have to go back to the beginning.” The court added:

“The risks here that are created by this crime are so great, the suffering is indescribable, the suffering that attaches to it sometimes when someone’s injured, it’s on you to, you know, show you’re not a risk. * * * Depression and the like, get help for it, but don’t expect that the community ’s going to relax its approach to this particular crime. It’s not. We’re not.”

That day, defendant filed a written motion and declaration for an extension, in which she attested that she had made a good faith effort to complete the conditions of the diversion agreement, including payment of fees, attendance at a victim’s impact panel, and completion of treatment, and she admitted her failure to achieve “complete sobriety.” She sought a six-month extension. In one order recording the results of the hearing, the court found a violation of the diversion agreement but permitted defendant to continue diversion by “restart[ing] [her] alcohol treatment” and observing “strict compliance.” In a form order, the court determined that defendant had made “a good faith effort to complete the conditions of the diversion agreement” and that she “can * * * complete the conditions of the diversion agreement in the requested extended diversion period.” A notation on the form order reiterated that defendant must “Restart Treatment.”

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State v. Zook, 476 P.3d 508, 307 Or. App. 49 (Or. Ct. App. 2020).

476 P.3d 508 (State v. Zook) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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