State v. Bell

• Court: Oregon Court of Appeals
• Area(s) of Law: Criminal Law
• Date Filed: 10-05-2011
• Case #: A144664
• Judge(s)/Court Below: Edmonds, S.J. for the Court; & Brewer, C.J.

Merger of separate verdicts into one conviction is not appropriate if the record shows that the defendant had a chance to renounce his or her criminal intent after each violation.

Defendant was convicted of three counts of felon in possession of a firearm after police found guns during a search of defendant’s home. On appeal, defendant argued that the court should have merged the guilty verdicts into one conviction under Oregon’s merger statute. The Court of Appeals affirmed, finding that because defendant admitted to police that he had acquired each firearm from a different person, he had the opportunity to renounce his criminal intent after each specific violation. Thus, merger was not appropriate. Affirmed.

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