State v. Coats

A “sufficient pause” for purposes of ORS 161.067(3) means a “temporary or brief cessation of a defendant’s criminal conduct that occurs between repeated violations and is so marked in scope or quality that it affords a defendant the opportunity to renounce his or her criminal intent.” State v. Huffman, 234 Or App 177, 184, 227 P3d 1206 (2010).

A jury convicted Defendant on multiple counts of unauthorized use of a vehicle (UUV). In one assignment of error, Defendant argued the court erred by failing to merge the guilty verdicts for UUV into a single guilty verdict. Defendant claims that both counts of UUV involved the same victim and occurred in the same instance. The State argued UUV applied to both the ATV and trailer which the Defendant used. Furthermore, the State argued there was no “sufficient pause.” A “sufficient pause” for purposes of ORS 161.067(3) means a “temporary or brief cessation of a defendant’s criminal conduct that occurs between repeated violations and is so marked in scope or quality that it affords a defendant the opportunity to renounce his or her criminal intent.” State v. Huffman, 234 Or App 177, 184, 227 P3d 1206 (2010). The Court found that the record lacked cessation of Defendant’s unlawful use. In a short period of time, Defendant used both the trailer and the ATV unlawfully. REVERSE and REMAND for merger and resentencing otherwise AFFIRMED.