State v. Servatius

Under ORS 133.076, the state must prove that, at the time of a required appearance, defendant knew of their obligation to appear in court.

Defendant appealed the trial court’s judgment convicting him of failure to appear on a criminal citation, under ORS 133.076. Defendant assigned error to the trial court’s conclusion that “it did not need to make a finding regarding defendant’s mental state on the day of his missed court appearance.” On appeal, defendant argued that ORS 133.076 requires a finding that the defendant had knowledge of the court date at the time he failed to appear. The state argued that receiving notice of the court date was sufficient to constitute a knowing failure to appear. The Court of Appeals concluded that, “under ORS 133.076, the state was required to prove that, at the time of his required appearance, defendant knew of his obligation to appear in court,” and that when “the trial court expressly refused to [infer such knowledge],” the trial court “convicted defendant under an erroneous legal theory, and without making a required finding.” Conviction for failure to appear on a criminal citation, reversed and remanded; otherwise affirmed.