United States Supreme Court Certiorari Granted (1 summary)
Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization
Whether all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions are unconstitutional.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Oregon Supreme Court (3 summaries)
Lowell v. Medford School District. 549c
Absolute privilege applies when the public’s interest in functioning government is so great that it outweighs an individual’s interest in redress for reputational harm. Shearer v. Lambert, 274 Or 449, 547 P2d 98 (1976).
Area(s) of Law:- Tort Law
Antoine v. Taylor
To obtain relief… a post-conviction petitioner must show ‘that counsel failed to exercise reasonable professional skill and judgment, and that the petitioner suffered prejudice as a result of counsel’s inadequacy.’ Johnson v. Premo, 361 Or 688, 699, 399 P3d 431 (2017).”
Area(s) of Law:- Post-Conviction Relief
Allianz Global Risks v. ACE Property & Casualty Ins. Co.
“[I]nterpretation of insurance policies is a question of law to be decided by the court… The court is to consider the plain meaning of the relevant policy terms; if a term is ambiguous, the court considers the context in which the term appears and then the context of the policy as a whole; if ambiguity remains, the term is construed against the drafter.”
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Law
Oregon Court of Appeals (36 summaries)
State v. Harris
“The unavailability exception to the confrontation guarantee should not be “granted routinely” and applies only when a witness is “truly unavailable to testify” so that the state’s reliance on prior out-of-court statements is “genuinely necessary.”” State v. Herrera, 286 Or 349, 355 (1979).
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
State v. Lugo
A person is physically helpless when that person “is unconscious or for any other reason is physically unable to communicate unwillingness to an act.” ORS 163.305(4).
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
State v. Hatchell
When refusing a jury instruction the court must determine, “whether the record viewed in the light most favorable to the proponent of the instruction, supported giving the instruction.” State v. Owen, 369 Or 288, (2022).
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
State v. N. J. D. A.
Before questioning, police must give Miranda warnings to a person who is in full custody or in circumstances that create a setting which judges would and officers should recognize to be compelling.” State v. Roble-Baker, 340 Or 631, 638, 136 P3d 22 (2006).
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
State v. Powell
The court cannot admit evidence if the proponent’s theory of relevance requires the factfinder to employ propensity reasoning. State v. Skillicorn, 367 Or 464, 479 P3d 254 (2021).
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
State v. Simmons
“A person commits the crime of theft of services if: (a) With intent to avoid payment therefor, the person obtains services that are available only for compensation, by force, threat, deception or other means to avoid payment for the services.” ORS 164.125(1).
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
Eaton
ORCP 12 A provides that “[a]ll pleadings shall be liberally construed with a view of substantial justice between the parties.” ORCP 12 B provides that “[t]he court shall, in every stage of an action, disregard any error or defect in the pleadings or proceedings which does not affect the substantial rights of the adverse party.”
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Procedure
K. R. M. v. Baker
ORS 107.716(3)(a) provides that a court may continue a FAPA order if the court determines that: “(B) The petitioner reasonably fears for the petitioner’s physical safety” and ORS107.104(1)(b)(2) provides an exception to enforcing a stipulated agreement when enforcement “would clearly contravene public policy.”
Area(s) of Law:- Family Abuse Prevention Act
State v. Wagner
“On appeal, defendant does not challenge the scientific validity and reliability of Dorsey’s testimony. The only issue on appeal related to Dorsey’s testimony is her qualification to offer proffered expert testimony under OEC 702.”
Area(s) of Law:- Evidence
State v. Zielinski
“[E]vidence is relevant so long as it increases or decreases, even slightly, the probability of the existence of a fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action.” State v. Barone, 329 Or 210, 238, 986 P.2d 5 (1999).
Area(s) of Law:- Evidence
State v. Moscote-Saavedra
ORS 161.067(3) states that the criminal acts “. . . must be separated from other such violations by a sufficient pause in the defendant’s criminal conduct to afford the defendant an opportunity to renounce the criminal intent.”
Area(s) of Law:- Sentencing
Timber Town Living v. Dept. of Human Services
Violation severity is defined by ORS 4 41.731(2)(b), which creates four levels of severity: (1) a Level 1 violation “results in no actual harm or in potential for only minor harm”; (2) a Level 2 violation “results in minor harm or potential for moderate harm”; (3) a Level 3 violation “results in moderate harm or potential for serious harm”; and (4) a Level 4 violation “results in serious harm or death.”
Area(s) of Law:- Elder Law
State v. Finley
ORS 419C.370 provides: “(1) The juvenile court may enter an order directing that all cases involving: (a) Violation of a law or ordinance relating to the use or operation of a motor vehicle, boating laws or game laws be waived to criminal or municipal court[.]”
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
Santoro v. Eagle Crest Estate Homesite Owners Assn.
“When one party to a contract is given discretion in the performance of some aspect of the contract, the parties ordinarily contemplate that that discretion will be exercised for particular purposes. If the discretion is exercised for purposes not contemplated by the parties, the party exercising discretion has performed in bad faith.” Best v. U. S. National Bank, 303 Or 557, 563, 739 P2d 554 (1987).
Area(s) of Law:- Property Law
State v. Jackson
With an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt “but admits that sufficient evidence exists to convict him of the offense.” United States v. Ramirez-Gonzalez, 755 F3d 1267, 1273 (11th Cir 2014).
Area(s) of Law:- Parole and Post-Prison Supervision
Wedemeyer v. Nike Ihm, Inc.
ORCP 68 C(2)(a) provides: “A party seeking attorney fees shall allege the facts, statute, or rule that provides a basis for the award of fees in a pleading filed by that party. Attorney fees may be sought before the substantive right to recover fees accrues."
Area(s) of Law:- Attorney Fees
Dept. of Human Services v. C. A. C.
The relevance threshold is “very low,” State v. Hampton, 317 Or 251, 855 P2d 621 (1993), and that the juvenile court may consider historical medical records, including mental health records, along with all the evidence as it determines whether to assert dependency jurisdiction.
Area(s) of Law:- Juvenile Law
State v. Chemxananou
The “witness false in part” instruction provides “[t]hat a witness false in one part of the testimony of the witness may be distrusted in others[.]” ORS 10.095(3).
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
SAIF v. Lynn
Under ORS 656.005(7)(a), “[i]f a person is injured at work, that injury is compensable if it “aris[es] out of and in the course of employment.”
Area(s) of Law:- Workers Compensation
State v. Lile
“ORS 137.106 authorizes a trial court to order restitution ‘[w]hen a person is convicted of a crime that has resulted in economic damages.’”
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
Department of Human Services v. J. L. J.
To preserve an error for appeal, “‘a party must provide the trial court with an explanation of [his or her] objection that is specific enough to ensure that the court can identify its alleged error with enough clarity to permit it to consider and correct the error immediately.’” Senvoy, LLC v. Employment Dept., 312 Or App 387, 388-39, ___ P3d ___ (2021) (quoting State v. Vanornum, 354 Or 614, 632, 317 P3d 889 (2013)).
Area(s) of Law:- Juvenile Law
Ebright and Ebright
Under ORS 107.105(1)(f), which provides, in part, that “the court may provide in the judgment . . . [f]or the division or other disposition between the parties of the real or personal property, or both, of either or both of the parties as may be just and proper in all the circumstances.”
Area(s) of Law:- Family Law
Canales-Robles v. Laney
ORS 138.510(3) provides: “A petition pursuant to ORS 138.510 to 138.680 must be filed within two years of the [date that the conviction became final], unless the court on hearing a subsequent petition finds grounds for relief asserted which could not reasonably have been raised in the original or amended petition.”
Area(s) of Law:- Post-Conviction Relief
State v. Shelby
[P]olice officers must provide Miranda-like warnings to a defendant who is in custody or in compel-ling circumstances prior to questioning. See State v. Roble-Baker, 340 Or 631, 638, 136 P3d 22 (2006). In determining whether a defendant is subject to compelling circumstances, the court examines ‘whether the officers created the sort of police-dominated atmosphere that Miranda warnings were intended to counteract.’ Id. At 641.”
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
State v. Threlkeld
“[A]n expert on a given subject is a person who ‘has acquired certain habits of judgment based on experience of special observation that enable[] him or her to draw from the facts inferences that are uniquely beneficial to the [factfinder].” Mall v. Horton, 292 OR App 319, 324, 423 P3d 730, rev den, 363 Or 744 (2018).
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
State v. Allen
“In Lawson/James, the court held that the threshold inquiry from Classen—whether there had been suggestive police procedures—was unnecessary as a preliminary and independent inquiry: ‘There is no reason to hinder the analysis of eyewitness reliability with purposeless distinctions between suggestiveness and other sources of unreliability.’” State v. Wesley, 254 Or App 697, 711, 295 P3d 1147, rev den, 354 Or 62 (2013)(quoting Lawson/James, 352 Or at 747).
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
State v. Jones
Under ORS 138.105(5)(a) and (b) the appellate court can only review a conviction when (1) “the trial court’s adverse determination of a pretrial motion reserved a conditional plea of guilty or no contest under ORS 135.335” and (2) “[if] the trial court erred by not merging determinations of guilt of two or more offenses, unless the entry of separate convictions results from an agreement between the state and the defendant.”
Area(s) of Law:- Appellate Procedure
State v. Payton
The Oregon Supreme Court decided in State v. Henderson that “because the defendant developed the intent to commit an additional crime—and did commit an additional crime—while unlawfully present in the house” the defendant was guilty of first-degree burglary. 366 Or 14, 455 P3d 503, (2019).
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
A.J.T v. Croft
Following a contested hearing, under the FAPA, the record must include evidence (1) of past abuse committed by the respondent (within 180 days of filing), (2) that the petitioner reasonably fears for her physical safety, and (3) that the respondent represents a credible threat to the petitioner’s safety or the safety of her child. ORS 107.716(3).
Area(s) of Law:- Family Abuse Prevention Act
Lyons v. Beeman
The parol evidence rule, ORS 147.740 explains that “a binding, completely integrated, written agreement supersedes or discharges all agreements, written or oral, that were made before the completely integrated agreement, to the extent that the prior agreements are within the scope of the completely integrated agreement.”
Area(s) of Law:- Contract Law
State v. McClour
In order to survive an MJOA, evidence must be present so that the factfinder “could reasonably infer that the [stolen item] possessed ‘some value,’ the minimum needed to define it as ‘property’ ” for purposes of third-degree theft.” State v. Waterhouse, 359 Or 351, 361-62, 373 P3d 131 (2016).
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
State v. Trenary-Brown
The “failure to give a concurrence instruction is not harmless when, given the evidence and the parties’ theories, jurors could have based their verdicts on different occurrences.” State v. Teagues, 281 Or App 182, 194, 383 P3d 320 (2016).
Area(s) of Law:- Appellate Procedure
McCoin v. PSRB
Under ORS 161.341, a person may be discharged from the board’s jurisdiction even if the person has a mental disease or defect, if that person “no longer presents a substantial danger to others.”
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Commitment
McMullin v. Amsberry
To establish a violation of adequate counsel it must be shown that counsel “failed to exercise reasonable professional skill and judgement,” and second, that petitioner “suffered prejudice as a result of counsel’s inadequacy.” Johnson v. Premo, 361 Or 688, 699, 399 P3d 431 (2017).
Area(s) of Law:- Post-Conviction Relief
State v. L.D.
A person with a mental illness is a person who is a danger to themselves because of their mental disorder. ORS 426.005(1)(f)(A).
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Commitment
State v. McNair
An appellate court must review a denial of a motion for acquittal in order to assess “whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the state, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” State v. King, 307 Or 332, 339, 768 P2d 391 (1989).
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law