Oregon Supreme Court

Opinions Filed in March 2022

State v. Brumwell

Under ORS 138.045, “dismissing or setting aside” is when a court issues an order ruling an accusatory instrument fails to state facts that constitute an offense, when a death penalty case is reopened, the new penalty phase hearing is like a new trial.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Appellate Procedure

State v. Davidson

ORS 137.719(2) provides that a non-presumptive sentence for a sex crime that the court may depart from subsection (1) and impose a guidelines sentence for “substantial and compelling reasons.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Sentencing

State v. Ford

Ford presented the same issue decided in State v. Kyger, where the Court determined that “[t]he occurrence of multiple deaths is required for the completed crime of aggravated murder, but it is not required for the inchoate crime of attempted aggravated murder.” 369 Or 363 (2022).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Law

State v. Kyger

For purposes of ORS 163.095(1)(d), “[t]he occurrence of multiple deaths is required for the completed crime of aggravated murder, but it is not required for the inchoate crime of attempted aggravated murder.” State v. Kyger, 369 Or 363 (2022).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Law

State v Meiser

Under ORS 161.295, the affirmative defense of GEI does not require proof that a lack of capacity is due solely to a mental disease or defect, such that an antisocial personality disorder played no part in the incapacity.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Procedure

State v. Owen

Under ORS 163.175, a person commits second-degree assault if the person “[i]ntentionally or knowingly causes physical injury to another by means of a deadly or dangerous weapon,” and under ORS 161.095(2), no culpable mental state attaches to the result element of second-degree assault.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Law

State v. McKinney/Shiffer

In the case of a bench trial, the trial court's failure to consider the culpable mental state for the serious physical injury element of an assault offense is not harmless. State v. Marrington, 355 Or 555, 565-66 (2003). Similarly, in the case of a jury trial, a jury instruction that fails to instruct the jury as to the culpable mental state for the serious physical injury element is not harmless. Hernandez v. Barbo Machinery Co., 327 Or 99, 106-07 (1998).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Law

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