State v. Guzman/Heckler

"[C]lose element matching requires a foreign offense have 'elements that are the same as or nearly the same as the elements of' the Oregon crime to which it is compared." State v. Carlton, 361 Or 29, 43, 388 P3d 1093 (2017).

Defendants appealed convictions for felony DUII that involved previous DUII convictions in foreign jurisdictions.  Defendants assigned error to the court's understanding of the term "statutory counterpart."  Defendants argue that "statutory counterpart" should be read narrowly only to include foreign offenses with "elements the same or nearly the same as ORS 813.011."  In response, the State argued that prior case law did not require close element matching.  "[C]lose element matching requires a foreign offense have 'elements that are the same as or nearly the same as the elements of' the Oregon crime to which it is compared." State v. Carlton, 361 Or 29, 43, 388 P3d 1093 (2017).  The Court held that, "in determining which foreign offenses qualify as statutory counterparts to ORS 813.010, the appropriate inquiry is close matching elements," therefore both Defendants' convictions were for offenses that were not similar to ORS 813.010.  In State v. Guzman, S066328, the decision of the Court of Appeals is reversed.  The judgment of the circuit court is reversed, and the case is remanded to the circuit court for further proceedings.  In State v. Heckler, S066373, the decision of the Court of Appeals is reversed.  The judgment of the circuit court is reversed, and the case is remanded to the circuit court for further proceedings.