Oregon Court of Appeals

Opinions Filed in January 2020

Dept. of Human Services v. F. Y. D.

ORS 419B.100(1)(c) provides that "a juvenile court has jurisdiction in a dependency case when a child’s ‘condition or circumstances are such as to endanger the welfare’ of the child.” “A child is endangered if the child is exposed to conditions or circumstances that ‘present a current threat of serious loss or injury.’” Dept. of Human Services v. A. L., 268 Or App 391, 397, 342 P3d 174 (2015).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Juvenile Law

Schnitzer v. Schnitzer

"Dictionary definitions… ‘do not tell us what words mean, only what words can mean, depending on their context and the particular manner in which they are used.'” State v. Cloutier, 351 Or 68, 96, 261 P3d 1234 (2011).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Family Law

State v. Barrett

The Court may "decline to address constitutional questions where the record was 'too inconclusive to justify the adoption of the constitutional rule urged by defendant.'" City of Portland v. Juntunen, 6 Or App 632, 635, 488 P2d 806 (1971).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Constitutional Law

State v. Guynn

“A person commits the offense of ‘following too closely’ if the person ‘[d]rives a motor vehicle so as to follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard for the speed of the vehicles and the traffic upon, and condition of, the highway.” ORS 811.485(1)(a). “A driver has the duty [to all cars] to not follow the preceding car so closely as to create an ‘unreasonable risk’ to others under the driving conditions present.” Garland v. Wilcox, 220 Or 325 (1960).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Traffic Infractions

State v. J.W.

"A person may be committed to DHS for care, treatment, or training if the court determines that (1) the person has an intellectual disability; (2) because of the intellectual disability, the person is either (a) dangerous to self, (b) dangerous to others, or (c) unable to provide for personal needs and not receiving care as is necessary for the person’s health, safety, or rehabilitation; and (3) voluntary treatment and training or conditional release is not in the person’s best interest. ORS 427.290.”

Area(s) of Law:
  • Civil Commitment

State v. Kirkpatrick

“[A]n offense in another jurisdiction is only considered comparable to an Oregon felony sex crime if the two have ‘elements that are the same * * * or nearly the same.’” State v. Carlton, 361 Or 29, 43, 388 P3d 1093 (2017).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Sentencing

State v. McCarthy

The automobile exception requires “(1) that the automobile is mobile at the time it is stopped by police or other governmental authority, and (2) that probable cause exists for the search of the vehicle.” State v. Brown, 301 Or. 268, 274, 721 P2d 1357 (1986).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Law

State v. Swartz

“[A] person commits the crime of IPO ‘if the person, knowing that another person is a peace officer[,] … [r]efuses to obey a lawful order by the peace officer,’” ORS 162.247(1). Passive resistance means any “noncooperation with a lawful order of a peace officer that does not involve active conduct.” State v. McNally, 361 Or 314, 339 P3d 721 (2017).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Law

Restore Oregon v. City of Portland

Under ORS 197.850(9)(1), LUBA orders are reviewed to determine if the decision was "unlawful in substance or procedure."

Area(s) of Law:
  • Land Use

Shriners Hospitals for Children v. Cox

“We balance four factors in determining whether a court permissibly exercised its discretion [over a petitioned leave to amend]: ‘(1) the nature of the proposed amendments and their relationship to the existing pleadings; (2) the prejudice, if any, to the opposing party; (3) the timing of the proposed amendments and related docketing concerns; and (4) the colorable merit of the proposed amendment.” Ramsey v. Thompson, 162 Or App 139, 145, 986, P2d 54 (1999) rev den 329, Or 589 (2000).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Civil Procedure

State v. Keyes

"[A] 'sentence imposed' under ORS 137.717 is a sentence initially imposed upon conviction, and not a sentence imposed at the time the probation is revoked." State v. Orcutt, 280 Or App 439, 446, 380 P3d 1105 (2016), rev den, 361 Or 525 (2017).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Sentencing

State v. Mast

"Whether post-Miranda statements must be suppressed when the Miranda warnings are belatedly given turns on whether the state has established that the warnings were 'effective.'" State v. Vondehn, 348 Or 462, 480, 236 P3d 691 (2010). "To determine whether belatedly administered Miranda warnings are effective, we consider 'all relevant circumstances.'" Id. at 482.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Law

Central Oregon Landwatch v. Deschutes County

An amendment to a county’s acknowledged comprehensive plan, which did not directly or indirectly influence the misclassification of a land, cannot be a basis for requiring review of the amendment in a goal noncompliance claim. Urquhart v. Lane Council of Governments, 80 Or App 176, 180-82, 721 P2d 870 (1986).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Land Use

Friends of Yamhill County v. Yamhill County

In a specialized zoning context, "'incidental and subordinate to' means more than that the accessory use occurs less frequently than the primary use," and in statutory context, ORS 215.283(4)(d) was intended to spark a comparison on the nature, intensity, and economic value of proposed agri-tourism events rather than solely relying on frequency of activities.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Land Use

State v. Lorenzo

“Disobedience to a subpoena or a refusal to be sworn or to answer as a witness may be punished as contempt by a court before whom the action is pending or by the judge or justice issuing the subpoena. Upon hearing or trial, if the witness is a party and disobeys a subpoena or refuses to be sworn or to answer as a witness, such party’s complaint, answer, or reply may be stricken.” ORCP 55 G; “Except for offenses based on municipal or county ordinance, in a criminal action the State of Oregon is the plaintiff and the person prosecuted is the defendant.” ORS 131.025.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Procedure

Walton v. Myrick

"ORS 138.550(3) places a ‘limit on successive post-conviction proceedings’ and is meant to disallow ‘serial litigation’ of post-conviction claims." Bogle v. State of Oregon, 363 Or 455, 458, 476-477, 423 P3d 715 (2018). "The fact that a represented petitioner failed in his or her effort o raise additonal claims in the original post-conviction proceeding . . . will not justify the filing of a new, successive post-conviction petition under ORS 138.550(3)." Id. at 477-78.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Post-Conviction Relief

Yann v. Bowser

In reviewing the trial court's grant of summary judgment for legal error, the Court determines “whether there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Evans v. City of Warrenton, 283 Or App 256, 258, 388 P3d 1167 (2016); ORCP 47 C.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Post-Conviction Relief

State v. Arnold

"[T]he rules for personal service under ORCP 7 'do not require actual in-hand delivery, or a face-to-face encounter with an acknowledgement of identity from the person to be served,' because '[t]o so require would allow a defendant to defeat service simply by refusing to identify himself or accept the papers.'" Business & Prof. Adj. Co. v. Baker, 62 Or App 237, 240-41, 659 P2d 1025 (1983).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Civil Procedure

State v. M. J. M.

Once a court finds a person is mentally ill by clear and convincing evidence, if the court finds that person is “willing and able to participate in treatment on a voluntary basis” and they “will probably do so” the court must order their release under ORS 426.130(1)(a)(A)(i)-(ii).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Civil Commitment

The Bank of New York Mellon v. Lash

To maintain an FED action, the entry must have been by force and the holding of the property must have also been by force. ORS 105.110; Kerr v. Jones, 193 Or App 682, 687, 91 P3d 828 (2004).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Property Law

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