"Where there is injustice, we should correct it. Where there is poverty, we should eliminate it. Where there is corruption, we should stamp it out. Where there is violence, we should punish it. Where there is neglect, we should provide care. Where there is war, we should restore peace. And wherever corrections are achieved, we should add them permanently to our storehouse of treasures."

-Epitaph of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren (March 19, 1891– July 9, 1974).

Victory in the Oregon Court of Appeals: Freedom of Speech and Stalking Charges

Sep 092010

Recently, a Collective member was successful in the Oregon Court of Appeals.

The Oregon Court of Appeals explained:

This is an appeal from judgments in two consolidated cases, one involving multiple counts of violation of a stalking protective order (SPO) (case number A138098), and the other involving a conviction for stalking relating to a different victim (case number A138097).  In the first case, we accept the state’s concession that the trial court plainly erred by failing to merge defendant’s three separate convictions for the offense of violating a single SPO, when those convictions were based on different theories of guilt arising from a single telephone call to one person.  We exercise our discretion to review defendant’s challenge as plain error and remand that case for resentencing and imposition of a single conviction for violating a stalking protective order. See State v. Ascencio-Galindo, 220 Or App 600, 188 P3d 392, rev den, 345 Or 175 (2008) (reviewing as plain error and correcting trial court’s improper failure to merge two convictions where multiple counts represented different theories of guilt for the same criminal act).

In the second case, defendant asserts that the trial court erred by denying his motion for a judgment of acquittal because, among other reasons, the charged contacts involved expression protected under Article I, section 8, of the Oregon Constitution.  In reviewing a trial court’s denial of a motion for a judgment of acquittal, we consider whether any rational trier of fact, accepting reasonable inferences and making reasonable credibility choices, could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.  State v. King, 307 Or 332, 339, 768 P2d 391 (1989).  In so doing, we review the facts in the light most favorable to the state and draw all reasonable inferences in the state’s favor.  State v. Hall,  327 Or 568, 570, 966 P2d 208 (1998).  As explained below, we reverse.

Read the full opinion here.