Samson v. Brown

Summarized by:

  • Court: Oregon Court of Appeals
  • Area(s) of Law: Habeas Corpus
  • Date Filed: 03-31-2021
  • Case #: A173284
  • Judge(s)/Court Below: Aoyagi, J. for the Court; Armstrong, P.J., & Tookey, J.
  • Full Text Opinion

ORS 137.635(1) provides, “The person shall not be eligible for any reduction in sentence pursuant to ORS 421.120 or for any reduction in the term of incarceration pursuant to ORS 421.121.”

The superintendent appealed Plaintiff/Respondent’s grant of habeas corpus relief. The superintendent argued the trial court erred in their construction of ORS 137.635(1) because a person serving two concurrent sentences where one is subject to ORS 137.635 and that other is not, cannot receive earned time credit on a sentence not within ORS 137.635. Plaintiff/Respondent argued ORS 137.635 is applicable to the sentence rather than the person. ORS 137.635(1) provides, “The person shall not be eligible for any reduction in sentence pursuant to ORS 421.120 or for any reduction in the term of incarceration pursuant to ORS 421.121.” The Court held that the person which is serving a sentence pursuant ORS 137.635 is disqualified for a reduction in their term pursuant ORS 421.121 “on that sentence.” The Court reasoned that because ORS 137.635 does not expressly answer a concurrent-sentencing scenario, the ambiguity shall be resolved by the context of the statute and to a small degree, legislative history. Affirmed.

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