- Court: Oregon Court of Appeals
- Area(s) of Law: Criminal Procedure
- Date Filed: 12-31-2014
- Case #: A148435
- Judge(s)/Court Below: Armstrong, P.J. for the Court; Nakamoto, J.; & Egan, J.
Defendant appeals a judgement of second-degree assault, and third-degree assault, assigning error to the trial court’s grant of the State’s motion to amend the indictment. Defendant chased the victim and beat them twice with a baseball bat, breaking victim’s arm. In their indictment, the State’s allegation contained an obvious error, stating that defendant “caused injury by means of a dangerous.” and left out the word “weapon”, and thereby failed to include an essential element of the crime charged in the original indictment. The trial court granted the State’s motion to amend the indictment, and convicted defendant. Defendant appealed. The Court of Appeals held that an indictment can be sustained even if an essential element or fact was communicated only by implication or context. Affirmed.