Molette v. Nooth

Under ORS 137.719, adjudications that are not defined as sentences do not count as sentences for the purposes of imposing life imprisonment on defendants with at least two prior felony sentences for sex crimes.

Petitioner appealed judgment denying his petition for post-conviction relief.  Petitioner assigned error "to the post-conviction court's denial of relief on his claim that trial counsel was inadequate and ineffective in failing to object to the court's imposition of a lifetime sentence under ORS 137.719 because the statutory predicates for such a sentence were absent."  On appeal, Petitioner argued that the trial counsel should have brought the issue of Texas adjudications up in court and by failing to do so was inadequate representation. In response, the State argued that an objection to the use of Texas adjudications as predicate sentences would not have succeeded.  Under ORS 137.719, adjudications that are not defined as sentences do not count as sentences for the purposes of imposing life imprisonment on defendants with at least two prior felony sentences for sex crimes.  The Court of Appeals held that for the purposes of ORS 137.719, out of state sentences are evaluated as predicates based on whether that state considers the imposed punishment to be a "sentence."  Reversed and remanded.