State v. Teixeira

Summarized by:

  • Court: Oregon Court of Appeals
  • Area(s) of Law: Sentencing
  • Date Filed: 10-30-2013
  • Case #: A146865
  • Judge(s)/Court Below: Sercombe, J. for the Court; Ortega, P.J.; and Haselton, C.J.

For purposes of OAR 213-008-0002(1)(b)(G), a "victim" is a person who is directly, immediately, and exclusively injured by the commission of the crime--not a person injured only by subsequent, additional criminal conduct.

Defendant appealed his conviction for first-degree burglary and multiple counts of first- and second-degree theft, arguing that the trial court erred by applying an enhancement factor to his burglary conviction. Defendant entered a vacation rental home and stole items belonging to seven different occupants. The trial court at sentencing imposed an upward durational departure sentence on the burglary conviction, applying the "multiple victims" enhancement factor. On appeal, Defendant argued that the trial court improperly applied that enhancement factor to the burglary conviction because the “multiple victims” were victims only of the individual thefts and not of the burglary. The Court of Appeals held that a "victim" for purposes of the upward durational departure sentence is a person who is “directly, immediately, and exclusively injured by the commission of the crime” rather than one who is injured only by subsequent criminal conduct. Because the victims were individually injured when Defendant appropriated their property rather than when he entered the residence, the trial court erred in relying on the "multiple victims" enhancement factor to impose an upward durational departure sentence on Defendant's burglary conviction. Remanded for resentencing; otherwise affirmed.

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