Oregon Supreme Court Decisions 2013
Date: December 27, 2013
Docket Number: S059835
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose out of a dispute over a cell phone. The victim sold defendant a cell phone with prepaid minutes. Defendant made a down payment when he got the phone and agreed to pay the balance in the future. When…
Date: December 27, 2013
Docket Number: S060715
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his conviction for resisting arrest, raising, among other issues, two claims that the trial court erred in instructing the jury. The Court of Appeals concluded that it was barred from reviewing those…
Date: December 27, 2013
Docket Number: S060774
Justia Opinion Summary: Claimant injured his low back while at work in April 2008, and his employer accepted his subsequent claim for a lumbar strain. Claimant was taken off work after his injury and, during the next several months, received an…
Date: December 19, 2013
Docket Number: S060226
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, an Oregon resident, sustained injuries in a motorcycle accident that occurred in Wyoming. She filed an action in Oregon seeking damages for her injuries, naming as a defendant Grand Teton Cycles, LLC, a…
Date: December 12, 2013
Docket Number: S059769
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Bruce Pipkin was charged with first-degree burglary. At trial, defendant argued that the state should have been required to elect whether it intended to proceed on the theory that he entered the victim's home…
Date: December 12, 2013
Docket Number: S060134
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with criminally negligent homicide after he allegedly drove while under the influence of intoxicants and struck another vehicle, killing one of its occupants. During the investigation of the crime,…
Date: December 12, 2013
Docket Number: S060793
Justia Opinion Summary: In consolidated cases, plaintiff sought immediate release from prison. In his case against the superintendent of the institution in which he was incarcerated, plaintiff sought habeas corpus relief on the ground that the…
Date: December 12, 2013
Docket Number: S060912
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2006, the Department of Revenue issued a notice of deficiency against Tektronix, Inc. for $3.7 million in additional tax for the 1999 tax year. Tektronix contended that: (1) the statute of limitations barred the…
Date: November 21, 2013
Docket Number: S056079
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue before the Supreme Court in this case centered on the legal standard for what constitutes a seizure under Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution. Police witnessed defendant and a companion "milling…
Date: November 21, 2013
Docket Number: S058019
Justia Opinion Summary: In prior cases, the Oregon Supreme Court has held that officers who had lawfully seized individuals for purposes of investigation also could, consistently with the Oregon Constitution, request and verify the individuals'…
Date: November 21, 2013
Docket Number: S058504
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue before the Supreme Court in this case centered on the legal standard for what constitutes a seizure under Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution. Defendant challenged the denial of his motion to…
Date: October 17, 2013
Docket Number: S060485
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case is whether Article I, section 11, of the Oregon Constitution implicitly requires the state to treat the location where the offense was committed as a material allegation, which it must prove beyond…
Date: October 17, 2013
Docket Number: S061470
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners sought review of the ballot title for Initiative Petition 12 (2014). Because the Supreme Court concluded that the ballot title did not 4 substantially comply with ORS 250.035(2), it referred it to the…
Date: October 3, 2013
Docket Number: S059874
Justia Opinion Summary: The Department of Human Services revoked a contractor's eligibility to provide home delivered meals to Medicaid clients because the contractor breached its contract with the department by failing to comply with certain…
Date: October 3, 2013
Docket Number: S060011
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was what constituted a "proof of loss" in a claim for UIM benefits and what sufficed to trigger the safe harbor provision. The insured provided notice of an injury automobile accident to her…
Date: October 3, 2013
Docket Number: S060355
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue on appeal to the Supreme Court in this case was whether Article I, section 17, of the Oregon Constitution applied to a restitution determination in a juvenile delinquency proceeding. The youth-defendant in this…
Date: October 3, 2013
Docket Number: S060752
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue before the Supreme Court in this case was whether a plaintiff was required to present expert testimony from a medical doctor to establish the standard of care and breach of the standard of care. Plaintiff…
Date: October 3, 2013
Docket Number: S060808
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was accused of shoplifting, was arrested and briefly incarcerated. She was charged with third-degree theft and attempted first-degree theft. At defendant's arraignment, the state elected under ORS 161.566(1) to…
Date: October 3, 2013
Docket Number: S060830
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner and her friend were crossing a street late at night when defendant, who had been drinking, hit them with his car and seriously injured them. Defendant pled guilty to one count of driving under the influence of…
Date: October 3, 2013
Docket Number: S060858
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was arrested, handcuffed, booked, and lodged in jail along with other 49 other "Occupy Portland" protesters. She was then charged with second-degree criminal trespass. The issue in this mandamus proceeding was…
Date: October 3, 2013
Docket Number: S061408
Justia Opinion Summary: Two petitioners sought review of the Attorney General's certified ballot title for Initiative Petition 11 (2014). Among them, petitioners advanced a host of arguments asserting various inadequacies of the ballot title.…
Date: September 26, 2013
Docket Number: S059869
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs brought a medical malpractice action to recover for injuries that their son sustained during delivery. The issues before the Supreme Court in this case centered on whether ORCP 59 H limits an appellate court's…
Date: September 12, 2013
Docket Number: S059760
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant kidnapped his victim as part of an effort to persuade her not to testify against one of his friends. The friend had terrorized, raped, and sodomized the victim, and the victim feared that the defendant would…
Date: September 12, 2013
Docket Number: S059895
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff alleged she was injured after she walked down the aisle of defendant's store and a heavy item fell on her foot. She did not see the item fall, nevertheless, plaintiff contended the store was negligent because…
Date: September 12, 2013
Docket Number: S059973
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was accused of embezzling money from her employer in multiple transactions over a period of sixteen months. The prosecutor aggregated those transactions to indict defendant on sixteen counts of theft, one count…
Date: September 12, 2013
Docket Number: S061292
Justia Opinion Summary: The petitioners in this case sought review of the Attorney General's certified ballot title for Initiative Petition 9 (2014). They argued the ballot title did not satisfy the requirements of ORS 250.035(2). Initiative…
Date: August 15, 2013
Docket Number: S060384
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant challenged his conviction for the crime of felon in possession of a firearm, arguing that when he possessed the firearm in question, he was not a "person who has been convicted of a felony" within the meaning…
Date: August 15, 2013
Docket Number: S060407
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of several weapons-related charges based on his possession of loaded semiautomatic handguns and a knife in a public place within the city of Portland. The Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction.…
Date: July 25, 2013
Docket Number: S060079
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Dean MacBale petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to order the trial court in his case to hold a public hearing to determine the admissibility of a rape victim's past sexual conduct,…
Date: July 25, 2013
Docket Number: S060370
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant challenged the admission of certain evidence following being held in contempt for violating a Family Abuse Prevention Act restraining order. On appeal, defendant argued that the admission of a certificate of…
Date: July 25, 2013
Docket Number: S060584
Justia Opinion Summary: Portland General Electric Company (PGE) appealed a Court of Appeals decision that reversed and remanded a trial court order that denied Lexington Insurance Company's motion to set aside a default judgment entered in…
Date: July 5, 2013
Docket Number: S060351
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that the trial court did not err in denying Defendant James Watson's motion to suppress evidence. Police stopped defendant to investigate a traffic violation but decided not to issue a citation.…
Date: June 27, 2013
Docket Number: S059686
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted for the 1989 killing of the Department of Corrections director. At the time, Oregon law provided two sentencing options for aggravated murder: death or life with the possibility of parole…
Date: June 20, 2013
Docket Number: S060761
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue before the Supreme Court in this matter centered on what constitutes a reprieve under the Oregon Constitution. After the Court affirmed Plaintiff-Respondent Gary Haugen's aggravated murder conviction and death…
Date: June 6, 2013
Docket Number: S060281
Justia Opinion Summary: Four certified questions of law from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon went before the Oregon Supreme Court. All centered on the mortgage finance industry's practice of naming the Mortgage…
Date: June 6, 2013
Docket Number: S060655
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue before the Supreme Court in this case centered on nonjudicial foreclosure of trust deeds under the Oregon Trust Deed Act (OTDA) and the mortgage finance industry's practice of naming the Mortgage Electronic…
Date: May 31, 2013
Docket Number: S058458
Justia Opinion Summary: Two law enforcement officers, believing that defendant was being assaulted, responded to an incomplete 9-1-1 call that had been traced to defendant's home. One officer took defendant's husband into custody, while the…
Date: May 31, 2013
Docket Number: S060141
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue before the Supreme Court in this appeal was whether a taxpayer could satisfy its obligation to "pay annually to the state" the $75,000 corporate minimum tax under ORS 3 317.090(2), by claiming on its corporate…
Date: May 31, 2013
Docket Number: S060182
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of felony driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII). At trial, defendant sought to introduce evidence that he suffered from a sleepwalking disorder and was "sleep driving" at the time he…
Date: May 31, 2013
Docket Number: S060187
Justia Opinion Summary: This case concerned a month-to-month tenancy pursuant to a written rental agreement. After the landlord gave the tenants a 30-day no-cause notice of termination of tenancy and the tenants failed to vacate the premises,…
Date: May 16, 2013
Docket Number: S060373
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2007, the decedent allegedly sustained personal injuries while disembarking from a bus operated by [defendant]. Decedent died a year later from causes unrelated to the bus accident. In 2009, more than two years, but…
Date: April 25, 2013
Docket Number: S059085
Justia Opinion Summary: The Oregon Supreme Court issued its decision in this case in January, 2013; that decision reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals and affirmed defendant's judgment of conviction for possession of methamphetamine. A…
Date: April 25, 2013
Docket Number: S059446
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2007, a Portland police officer investigated a dispute between defendant and his girlfriend. During that investigation, the officer learned that defendant was 21 years old and that his girlfriend (victim) was 16.…
Date: April 18, 2013
Docket Number: S060064
Justia Opinion Summary: In February 2005, the parties stipulated to a judgment dissolving their marriage. At that time, the parties had been married for seven years and had two minor children, then ages four and six. The judgment provided that…
Date: April 18, 2013
Docket Number: S060803
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue presented to the Supreme Court in this case was the appeal of a final order of the Energy Facility Siting Council that approved an amended site certificate for construction of a wind energy facility.…
Date: April 11, 2013
Docket Number: S059680
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue before the Supreme Court in this case concerned the scope of Clackamas County's contractual obligation to provide health insurance benefits to command officer retirees of the County Sheriff's Office. A contract…
Date: March 14, 2013
Docket Number: S059120
Justia Opinion Summary: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals certified two questions of Oregon law to the Oregon Supreme Court. They arose from an action for personal injury brought in federal district court against defendant Christopher Boyle…
Date: March 7, 2013
Docket Number: S059271
Justia Opinion Summary: The primary question in this case was whether the Oregon Department of Revenue properly classified income resulting from the sale of Crystal Communication's assets as "business income." Crystal operated as a multistate…
Date: March 7, 2013
Docket Number: S059437
Justia Opinion Summary: In this personal injury action, defendant Alex Kalugin moved for a defense medical examination pursuant to ORCP 44 A. Plaintiff Paul Lindell, Jr. objected on the ground that he would not submit to such an examination…
Date: March 7, 2013
Docket Number: S059502
Justia Opinion Summary: CenturyTel operated as a multistate, unitary business that, until 2002, provided both wireless and wireline telecommunications services. In 2002, CenturyTel sold its assets related to its wireless services but continued…
Date: March 7, 2013
Docket Number: S059589
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was a trial court's order dismissing as untimely plaintiffs' claims against a public school district. Plaintiffs are seven adult men born between 1957 and 1970. When they were in the fifth grade, a…
Date: March 7, 2013
Docket Number: S060100
Justia Opinion Summary: In this employment case, the issue before the Supreme Court was whether a prospective employee could bring a promissory estoppel claim or a fraudulent misrepresentation claim based on an employer's representations…
Date: February 28, 2013
Docket Number: S059513
Justia Opinion Summary: In two criminal cases consolidated for purposes of opinion, each defendant attempted to waive his constitutional right to a jury trial as guaranteed by Article I, section 11, of the Oregon Constitution. In both cases,…
Date: February 22, 2013
Docket Number: S057520
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Mark Strawn, the plaintiff in a class action case, petitioned for an award of attorney fees and costs incurred for the appellate work done on review before the Supreme Court in the underlying matter. In…
Date: January 17, 2013
Docket Number: S059465
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was whether plaintiff had standing under the Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act, ORS 28.020, to seek a declaration that defendant Sisters School District #6 and its Board of Directors lacked…
Date: January 17, 2013
Docket Number: S059971
Justia Opinion Summary: The Department of Corrections (DOC) made changes to its employees' scheduled days off and their shift stop and start times without first bargaining with representatives of the employees' union, the Association of Oregon…
Date: January 10, 2013
Docket Number: S059085
Justia Opinion Summary: The State charged Defendant Leland Hemenway with possession of methamphetamine. Before trial, he filed a motion to suppress evidence seized by police, arguing that his consent to search was the product of an illegal…
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