State v. Taylor

There are two requirements under ORS 131.505(4) for a course of conduct to constitute a single criminal episode: (1) the conduct is continuous and uninterrupted; and (2) the conduct must be a part of a single criminal objective, which shall be assessed by the time, place, and circumstances in which the conduct is joined. State v. Witherspoon states that ORS 131.505(4) requires focus to be placed on the criminals overarching criminal objective during the criminal episode, and any additional objectives during that time constitute a criminal episode, not multiple.

Defendant appealed a judgment of conviction for three counts of coercion (Counts 1-3), ORS 163.275, and one count of felony assault in the fourth-degree (Count 5), ORS 163.160(3), among other offenses. Defendant assigned error to the trial court’s finding that Count 5 arose in a separate criminal episode than Count 1-3. On appeal, Defendant argued that the “shift-to-I” rule applied in this case because Count 5 arose out of the same single criminal episode as Counts 1-3. In response, the State argued that the objective of Counts 1-3 was to prevent the victim from reporting abuse, which is a separate criminal objective than Count 5. There are two requirements under ORS 131.505(4) for a course of conduct to constitute a single criminal episode: (1) the conduct is continuous and uninterrupted; and (2) the conduct must be a part of a single criminal objective, which shall be assessed by the time, place, and circumstances in which the conduct is joined. State v. Witherspoon states that ORS 131.505(4) requires focus to be placed on the criminals overarching criminal objective during the criminal episode, and any additional objectives during that time constitute a criminal episode, not multiple. The Court of Appeals held that the record did not support the trial court’s conclusion that Counts 1 to 3 and Count 5 were separate criminal episodes. Instead, the Defendant had a single, overarching criminal objective during the criminal episode. Remanded for resentencing; otherwise affirmed.