State v. Baca

"[T]he legislature intended ORS 164.775 to 'punish and deter the discarding as refuse of an object in or within 100 yards of the waters of the state, regardless of any utility that the object might have in a different context.'" State v. Essex, 215 Or App 527, 531, 170 P3d 1094 (2007).

Defendant was residing in a tent near the Umpqua River with piles of garbage bags near her living area. Defendant appealed a judgment convicting her of disposing trash within 100 yards of waters of the state. Assigning error to the trial court's denial of her motion for a judgment of acquittal, Defendant argued that because her trash was in a garbage bag, a receptacle that is meant for disposing garbage, this fell within an exception to ORS 164.775. In response, the State contended that whether Defendant intended to dispose of the trash in a dumpster was properly presented as a question for the jury. "[T]he legislature intended ORS 164.775 to 'punish and deter the discarding as refuse of an object in or within 100 yards of the waters of the state, regardless of any utility that the object might have in a different context.'" State v. Essex, 215 Or App 527, 531, 170 P3d 1094 (2007). The Court reasoned that because a receptacle can become trash itself if it is abandoned or discarded, a reasonable juror could have found that Defendant discarded her trash within 100 yards of state waters and not in a receptacle. The trial court did not err in denying Defendant's motion for a judgment of acquittal. AFFIRMED.