State v. Brass

Pursuant ORS 137.123(5)(b), a court can sentence a person consecutively for an offense if the crime caused or threatened loss, harm, or injury to a different victim than was harmed or threatened by other offenses committed during a single criminal episode.

Defendant was convicted of unlawful use of a weapon (UUW) under ORS 166.220(1), and felon in possession of a firearm (FIP) under ORS 166.270. The trial court ordered Defendant’s sentences to run consecutively. Defendant argued that the trial court should have shortened his sentence under the “Shift-To-I” and “200-percent” rules, which constrain the length of consecutive sentences that have resulted from crimes committed during one criminal episode against one single victim. The trial court found that the UUW offense impacted one victim while the FIP offense impacted another victim, the public at large, and did not reduce Defendant’s sentence. Defendant appealed and argued that the trial court erred in ruling that his offenses did not comprise separate criminal episodes and had multiple victims. Pursuant ORS 137.123(5)(b), a court can sentence a person consecutively for an offense if the crime caused or threatened loss, harm, or injury to a different victim than was harmed or threatened by other offenses committed during a single criminal episode. The Court held that Defendant’s UUW and FIP offenses caused or threatened loss, injury or harm to separate victims because the public at large is different than a single victim. Affirmed.