Oregon Supreme Court Decisions 2022
Date: December 30, 2022
Docket Number: S068825
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue this case presented for the Oregon Supreme Court's review centered on the effect of Ramos v. Louisiana, 140 S Ct 1390 (2020) in an appeal of a trial court’s rejection of a post-conviction petitioner’s challenge…
Date: December 30, 2022
Docket Number: S068859
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Deangelo Martin argued his due process rights were violated when the trial court ruled that hearsay evidence—a recording of the victim’s phone call to 9-1-1—was admissible to demonstrate that defendant had…
Date: December 30, 2022
Docket Number: S069235
Justia Opinion Summary: The Oregon Department of Revenue assessed taxpayers $5,595 for deficient taxes, plus additional penalties and interest, for tax year 2013. Taxpayers first appealed that determination to the Magistrate Division of the Tax…
Date: December 30, 2022
Docket Number: S069830
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Reed Scott-Schwalbach sought review of the Oregon Attorney General’s certified ballot title for Initiative Petition 5 (2024) (IP 5), contending that various aspects did not comply with the requirements for…
Date: December 22, 2022
Docket Number: S068885
Justia Opinion Summary: The trial court convicted defendant Heather Evans of initiating a false report based on evidence that she had triggered a police investigation by making a call and subsequent statements to the police that included both…
Date: December 22, 2022
Docket Number: S068908
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Anthony Delaney appealed his convictions on multiple sex offenses arising from two separate incidents, each involving a different victim. He challenged the trial court’s refusal to sever the counts involving…
Date: December 15, 2022
Docket Number: S068972
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2014, wife filed for dissolution of her marriage to husband. At the trial to divide the parties’ assets and establish support awards for both wife and a child, wife requested, in relevant part, $750 per month in…
Date: December 15, 2022
Docket Number: S069135
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Lindsay Buero brought a class action against defendants Amazon.Com Services, Inc. and Amazon.com, Inc. in Oregon state court, alleging, among other things, that defendants had violated Oregon’s wage laws by…
Date: December 15, 2022
Docket Number: S069204
Justia Opinion Summary: Taxpayers, who did not dispute that they had in fact been paid substantial wages in tax years 2016-18, contended at Tax Court that they owed no Oregon income tax for those years. The Tax Court concluded their arguments…
Date: December 1, 2022
Docket Number: S068372
Justia Opinion Summary: This case concerned a driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII) conviction following the termination of a diversion agreement. Defendant Rhonda Colgrove pled guilty to misdemeanor DUII and petitioned to enter…
Date: November 17, 2022
Docket Number: S068980
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Patrick Fox and the victims were involved in a property dispute, and the victims hired a civil attorney to assist them in that matter. During an incident regarding the property dispute, defendant struck the…
Date: November 10, 2022
Docket Number: S068704
Justia Opinion Summary: Father challenged a juvenile court’s order requiring him to undergo a psychological evaluation and follow its recommendations. ORS 419B.387 authorized a juvenile court, following an evidentiary hearing, to “order [a]…
Date: November 10, 2022
Docket Number: S068727
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Christopher Ralston was arrested, booked, and charged by district attorney’s information with misdemeanor driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII) and reckless driving. Five days later, the prosecutor…
Date: November 10, 2022
Docket Number: S069072
Justia Opinion Summary: Relator petitioned for a restraining order against her husband (respondent) under the Family Abuse Prevention Act (FAPA), ORS 107.700-107.735. During a hearing on her petition, relator offered as exhibits six videos from…
Date: October 27, 2022
Docket Number: S069038
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Gregory Chaimov made a public records request in July 2018, seeking copies of completed request forms used by state agencies to propose legislation for the 2019 legislative session. Individual state agencies…
Date: October 20, 2022
Docket Number: S068514
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Michael Burris was convicted of attempting to commit the misdemeanor unlawful possession of a firearm. The issue his appeal presented for the Oregon Supreme Court was the legal effect, if any, of a…
Date: October 20, 2022
Docket Number: S068655
Justia Opinion Summary: In a 20-count indictment, defendant Nathan Chitwood was accused of sexually abusing his then-13-year-old stepdaughter. A jury acquitted defendant of all but three counts. Defendant appealed his convictions, contending…
Date: October 20, 2022
Docket Number: S068728
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was whether the suspension of petitioner’s driver’s license for refusing a breath test was valid when, in addition to providing petitioner with the statutorily required information regarding rights…
Date: October 13, 2022
Docket Number: S068639
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Darius Thompson robbed someone with a knife, and the victim shot defendant. Defendant sought treatment in a hospital, where police officers questioned him. An officer seized defendant’s cell phone as likely…
Date: October 6, 2022
Docket Number: S067620
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant John Shedrick walked into a bar and sat at a video poker machine near the ATM the bar maintained for customers. The bar’s owner was about to refill the ATM and placed a bundle of currency on top of it. Within…
Date: October 6, 2022
Docket Number: S068724
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue this case presented for the Oregon Supreme Court's review stemmed from the dismissal of a petition for post-conviction relief filed by a petitioner who was a fugitive from justice while his criminal case was…
Date: September 22, 2022
Docket Number: S068846
Justia Opinion Summary: The United States District Court for the District of Oregon certified two questions of law to the Oregon Supreme Court. Plaintiff, through a conservator, brought this action after he suffered catastrophic brain damage at…
Date: August 11, 2022
Docket Number: S067825
Justia Opinion Summary: In September 2017, Klamath County Animal Control impounded 22 dogs, three horses, and seven chickens from Petitioner Kenneth Hershey’s property. The state subsequently charged Hershey with three counts of second-degree…
Date: August 4, 2022
Docket Number: S067880
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Zachary Carlisle challenged his conviction for misdemeanor third-degree sexual abuse, which required the state to prove that he “subject[ed] another person to sexual contact” and that “[t]he victim d[id] not…
Date: July 28, 2022
Docket Number: S068647
Justia Opinion Summary: In October 2019, defendants rented an apartment from plaintiff pursuant to a month-to-month tenancy rental agreement. The parties’ agreement required defendants to pay a $1,500 security deposit and $850 a month in rent.…
Date: July 28, 2022
Docket Number: S068673
Justia Opinion Summary: Relator Randy Gray was the defendant charged in 2021 by a district attorney’s information with (among other things) the felony of assaulting a public safety officer. Shortly after the information was filed, relator’s…
Date: July 28, 2022
Docket Number: S068891
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Thomas Lowell provided piano tuning services to defendant Medford School District and assisted in producing concerts performed in defendant’s facilities. While providing production assistance for a particular…
Date: July 14, 2022
Docket Number: S068495
Justia Opinion Summary: After receiving a report that defendant John Benson sexually assaulted B, police launched an investigation that was subsequently halted. Seven and a half years later, after the case was rediscovered during an “open case”…
Date: July 8, 2022
Docket Number: S067992
Justia Opinion Summary: After plaintiff filed this class-action complaint against defendants, defendants filed a motion to compel arbitration. The trial court granted the motion. Plaintiff appealed, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. The Oregon…
Date: July 8, 2022
Docket Number: S068503
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant rear-ended plaintiff’s vehicle, and plaintiff suffered physical and emotional injuries as a result. Plaintiff claimed that her emotional injuries were so severe that she attempted to take her own life and was…
Date: July 8, 2022
Docket Number: S068871
Justia Opinion Summary: Relator—the decedent’s personal representative—brought a wrongful death claim under ORS 30.020 that sought, among other things, damages on behalf of the statutory beneficiaries for their loss of decedent’s society and…
Date: June 23, 2022
Docket Number: S068129
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff’s libel per se claim was based on a Google review, written by the manager of plaintiff’s business competitor, that subsequently was removed from the internet without a trace. The Oregon Court of Appeals…
Date: June 16, 2022
Docket Number: S068395
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Bruce Querbach sought to overturn a final order of the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) which determined that reports to DHS that petitioner had abused two children were “founded.” The circuit court,…
Date: June 3, 2022
Docket Number: S068207
Justia Opinion Summary: This case centered on the loss of use or function of claimant’s right knee, specifically, reduced range of motion and decreased stability in that knee, that was determined to be entirely related to causes other than…
Date: June 3, 2022
Docket Number: S068265
Justia Opinion Summary: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals certified a question of law to the Oregon Supreme Court. The question related to the applicability of Oregon’s anti- discrimination laws to a private contractor that provided healthcare…
Date: May 27, 2022
Docket Number: S069380
Justia Opinion Summary: Two groups of petitioners challenged the ballot title that the Oregon Attorney General certified for Initiative Petition 41 (2022) (IP 41). IP 41 would add a new section 16 to Article IX of the Oregon Constitution, which…
Date: May 26, 2022
Docket Number: S067829
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Lamar Stanton was charged with three counts of first-degree sexual abuse and two counts of first-degree sodomy. Because defendant was indigent, the trial court appointed counsel to represent him. Over the…
Date: May 12, 2022
Docket Number: S068295
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Jonathan Rusen challenged the trial court’s imposition of consecutive terms of incarceration upon revoking defendant’s probation. Defendant was serving the sentence of probation pursuant to a plea agreement and…
Date: April 29, 2022
Docket Number: S069163
Justia Opinion Summary: Two sets of electors who were dissatisfied with the Attorney General’s ballot title for Initiative Petition 34 (2022) (IP 34) petitioned the Oregon Supreme Court for review. IP 34 was directed at changing Oregon’s…
Date: April 28, 2022
Docket Number: S067940
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Mark Bartlett requested the City of Portland to release three city attorney opinions and one legal memorandum. The parties agreed that the documents were public records, were within the scope of the…
Date: April 28, 2022
Docket Number: S068481
Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved the State’s direct and interlocutory appeal of an omnibus pretrial order granting numerous defense motions to suppress evidence that the State obtained through wiretaps and search warrants. Defendant…
Date: April 21, 2022
Docket Number: S068208
Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved the definition of the term "impairment" in the context of Oregon's workers' compensation statutory scheme, and whether claimant Marisela Johnson’s loss of grip strength (that was determined to be…
Date: April 21, 2022
Docket Number: S068337
Justia Opinion Summary: During a single criminal episode, defendant Scott Kyger cut the necks of two people with a razor blade. For that conduct, the State charged him with, and he was convicted on two counts of attempted aggravated murder…
Date: April 21, 2022
Docket Number: S068347
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Karlyn Eklof was convicted of aggravated intentional murder in 1995 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In this, her second case seeking post-conviction relief, petitioner moved…
Date: April 21, 2022
Docket Number: S068428
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Michael Jackson was charged with and convicted of offenses that occurred during an encounter with police officers in an enclosed ATM vestibule. A surveillance video recorded the encounter and was admitted at…
Date: April 21, 2022
Docket Number: S068761
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Billy Lee Oatney, Jr. was convicted of aggravated murder and sentenced to death (Oatney I). During its initial investigation of the murder, the state gave defendant contractual use and derivative use immunity…
Date: March 31, 2022
Docket Number: S067884
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this post-conviction case was petitioner Steve Franke’s attempt to prove that his criminal trial counsel provided constitutionally inadequate and ineffective assistance by failing to object that an expert…
Date: March 31, 2022
Docket Number: S068231
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Dennis Davidson was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole under for his convictions for public indecency, a Class C felony, because he had been sentenced for felony sex crimes at least twice…
Date: March 31, 2022
Docket Number: S068918
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, defendant Jason Van Brumwell was convicted by jury on two counts of aggravated murder, for which he was sentenced to death. Defendant later brought a post-conviction relief action, and the post-conviction…
Date: March 24, 2022
Docket Number: S068179
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue this case presented for the Oregon Supreme Court's review centered on whether a truck driver (claimant) who sustained injuries while driving a truck that he leased directly from a trucking company, with…
Date: March 22, 2022
Docket Number: S068327
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Erik Meiser, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia and a co-occurring antisocial personality disorder, contended the trial court and the Court of Appeals erred in its understanding of the evidence required to…
Date: March 22, 2022
Docket Number: S068337
Justia Opinion Summary: During a single criminal episode, defendant Scott Kyger cut the necks of two people with a razor blade. For that, the state charged him with two counts of attempted aggravated murder under ORS 163.095 (2015) and ORS…
Date: March 22, 2022
Docket Number: S068434
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Kevin Gord, Jr. fired a gun at a vehicle with two occupants, neither of whom died. He was charged with, among other crimes, two counts of attempted aggravated murder. He unsuccessfully demurred to those counts…
Date: March 18, 2022
Docket Number: S069266
Justia Opinion Summary: Relators asked the Oregon Supreme Court for extraordinary relief: an alternative writ of mandamus directing the Secretary of State to withdraw her orders that disqualified their initiative petitions from appearing on the…
Date: March 3, 2022
Docket Number: S067558
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants Rocklyn Shiffer and Gina McKinney were each charged in independent cases with an assault offense requiring proof that the defendant knowingly caused physical injury to another person. Defendant Shiffer opted…
Date: March 3, 2022
Docket Number: S067658
Justia Opinion Summary: A grand jury indicted defendant Matthew Owen on two counts of second-degree assault for knowingly causing physical injury to another person by means of a dangerous weapon. Citing Oregon v. Barnes, 986 P2d 1160 (1999),…
Date: February 17, 2022
Docket Number: S069165
Justia Opinion Summary: Relator was a prospective candidate for Oregon governor. After he filed his declaration of candidacy with the Secretary of State, the secretary asked relator for additional information to substantiate that he will “have…
Date: February 10, 2022
Docket Number: S067964
Justia Opinion Summary: At trial, the parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment, each of which focused on whether documents plaintiff had received from a third party were admissible. Plaintiff argued that the documents qualified for the…
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