State v. Rowland

Under OEC (609)(3)(a), if more than 15 years pass since the prior conviction date, but jail time was served as a sanction for a parole violation within the 15-year period, the sanction is ‘confinement’ for purposes of calculating the 15-year period.

Defendant was convicted of theft, menacing, and robbery. The trial court overruled defendant’s motion to exclude impeachment evidence of his two prior burglary convictions. Defendant appealed, arguing that the evidence should be excluded under OEC 609(3)(a) as time barred because the convictions were more than 15 years old, even though he had served jail time as a sanction for a parole violation within the 15-year period. The rule excludes evidence of a prior conviction for impeachment if “more than 15 years has elapsed since the date of the conviction or of the release of the witness from the confinement imposed for that conviction, whichever is the later date.” Through statutory construction, the Court concluded that a parole sanction is confinement imposed for the original conviction within the meaning of the rule. Affirmed.