State v. McKinney/Shiffer

In the case of a bench trial, the trial court's failure to consider the culpable mental state for the serious physical injury element of an assault offense is not harmless. State v. Marrington, 355 Or 555, 565-66 (2003). Similarly, in the case of a jury trial, a jury instruction that fails to instruct the jury as to the culpable mental state for the serious physical injury element is not harmless. Hernandez v. Barbo Machinery Co., 327 Or 99, 106-07 (1998).

Defendants Shiffer and McKinney appealed from convictions of assault offenses. Both Shiffer and McKinney assigned error to their respective trial courts that rejected their arguments that the State was required to prove that they knew their actions would result in the requisite physical injury. Defendants argued that a knowing mental state attached to the serious physical injury element of second-degree assault and, at a minimum, the element needed the culpable mental state of criminal negligence. In the case of a bench trial, the trial court's failure to consider the culpable mental state for the serious physical injury element of an assault offense is not harmless. State v. Marrington, 355 Or 555, 565-66 (2003). Similarly, in the case of a jury trial, a jury instruction that fails to instruct the jury as to the culpable mental state for the serious physical injury element is not harmless. Hernandez v. Barbo Machinery Co., 327 Or 99, 106-07 (1998). The Court held that the trial court should have considered the culpable mental state for the serious physical injury element and that the trial court should have instructed the jury as to the culpable mental state for the requisite injury, neither of these errors were harmless. In State v. Shiffer, the decision of the Court of Appeals is reversed, the judgment of conviction is vacated in part, and the case is remanded to the circuit court for further proceedings. In State v. McKinney, the decision of the Court of Appeals is reversed, the judgment of conviction vacated in part, and the case is remanded to the circuit court for further proceedings.