State v. Hooper

“[T]he trial court is required to instruct the jury that, to convict, it must determine that the state has proved beyond a reasonable doubt that [the] defendant acted with a culpable mental state.” State v. Gray, 261 Or App 121, 322 P3d 1094 (2014).

Defendant appealed a conviction of first-degree rape under ORS 163.375, and argued that the trial court erred when it failed to instruct the jury that, in order to convict Defendant, the State needed to prove that Defendant acted with the culpable mental state required by the offense. The State contended that the jury instruction as a whole was proper, even if a portion thereof omitted the culpable mental state required to convict Defendant. “[T]he trial court is required to instruct the jury that, to convict, it must determine that the state has proved beyond a reasonable doubt that [the] defendant acted with a culpable mental state.” State v. Gray, 261 Or App 121, 322 P3d 1094 (2014). The Court held that the trial court plainly erred when it omitted the requisite mental state, “knowingly”, from the jury instruction. The Court reasoned the error was obvious and detrimental to Defendant because there was more than a “little likelihood” that the mental state requirement influenced the verdict.  Conviction on Count 1 reversed and remanded; otherwise affirmed.