State v. Weaver

Under ORAP 5.45(4)(a), "each assignment of error must demonstrate that the question or issue presented by the assignment of error timely and properly was raised and preserved in the lower court."

Defendant appealed a conviction of murder, robbery, and other crimes.  Defendant assigned error to the plea agreement between the state and one of Defendant's co-conspirators.  Defendant argued that the trial court should have either allowed the co-conspirator as a fact witness under Article I, section 11 of the Oregon Constitution and the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, or allowed the plea agreement into evidence. Further, Defendant argued that the trial court should not have relied on OEC 513 to exclude the plea agreement because it did not comment on invocation of the co-conspirator's Fifth Amendment rights.  In response, the state argued that Defendant did not preserve the first assignment of error and that the record did not support his claim of a constitutional violation.  Under ORAP 5.45(4)(a), "each assignment of error must demonstrate that the question or issue presented by the assignment of error timely and properly was raised and preserved in the lower court."  The Court held that (1) Defendant's assignment of error was unpreserved, and (2) the trial court did not err in excluding the plea agreement from evidence because Defendant never argued that his compulsory process rights trumped OEC 513.  Affirmed.