Oregon Supreme Court Decisions 2011

Oregon v. Rainoldi
Date: December 30, 2011
Docket Number: S058846

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, Defendant Nicholas Rainoldi was convicted of first degree forgery and identity theft, and was sentenced to 24 months' probation. On the judgment, the trial judge wrote "misd. treat. on completion of probation."…

Robinson v. Public Employees Retirement Board
Date: December 30, 2011
Docket Number: S058882

Petock v. Asante
Date: December 30, 2011
Docket Number: S059046

Justia Opinion Summary: The primary question in this case was whether a workplace injury that Plaintiff Nancy Petock characterized as an aggravation or worsening of an earlier compensable injury can give rise to a new three-year period in…

A. G. v. Guitron
Date: December 30, 2011
Docket Number: S059166

Justia Opinion Summary: The issue before the Supreme Court pertained to ORCP 44 C and whether it required Plaintiff "A.G." to deliver to Defendants Robert Guitron and Aerobic & Dancewear Shoppe, LLC, at Defendants' request, a copy of all…

White v. Public Employees Retirement Board
Date: December 30, 2011
Docket Number: S059213

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs Ursula White, Bruce Reiter and Margaret Retz, one retired member and two active members of the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) challenged certain actions of the Public Employees Retirement Board…

Girod v. Kroger
Date: December 8, 2011
Docket Number: S059713

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners Fred Girod, Rod Monroe, David Schamp, Cary Johnson, Hobart Kytr and Steven Fick sought review of the Attorney General's certified ballot title for Initiative Petition 21 (2012), arguing that the ballot title…

Williams v. RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company
Date: December 2, 2011
Docket Number: S059014

Justia Opinion Summary: A jury awarded the Estate of Jesse Williams (the Williams estate) compensatory damages and $79.5 million in punitive damages for Philip Morris, Inc.'s (Philip Morris) fraud and negligence leading to the smoking-related…

Rasmussen v. Kroger
Date: November 23, 2011
Docket Number: S059448

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners Gail Rasmussen and Bethanne Darby sought review of the Attorney General's certified ballot title for Initiative Petition 18 (2012). If approved by the voters, Initiative Petition 18 would enact a prohibition…

Oregon v. Haugen
Date: November 21, 2011
Docket Number: S059519

Justia Opinion Summary: This matter came to the Supreme Court on a "request" that it enforce, on its own motion, an alternative writ of mandamus that it previously issued in connection with Defendant Gary Haugen's death-warrant proceeding.…

Montez v. Czerniak
Date: November 18, 2011
Docket Number: S059138

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Marco Montez sought review of an appellate court decision that denied him post-conviction relief. The post-conviction court had rejected Petitioner's claim that he received ineffective assistance of counsel…

ZRZ Realty v. Beneficial Fire and Casualty Ins.
Date: November 10, 2011
Docket Number: S057155

Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to ORS 742.061, Plaintiffs Zidell Marine Corporation petitioned to recover attorney fees that they incurred for the preparation of appeals before both the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. Defendant Lloyds of…

Oregon v. Swanson
Date: November 10, 2011
Docket Number: S059135

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant David Swanson was charged with misdemeanor reckless driving. At trial, Defendant asked the trial court to instruct the jury on the elements of "careless" driving (a traffic violation), arguing that it is a…

Oregon v. Glushko
Date: November 10, 2011
Docket Numbers: S059136, S059137

Justia Opinion Summary: Two cases involving ORS 135.747 were consolidated in this opinion. In the first case, the State charged Defendant Vladmir Glushko with one count of attempt to elude, one count of reckless driving and one count of driving…

Kaseberg v. Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP
Date: November 10, 2011
Docket Number: S059154

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Darrell Kasberg farmed piece of property leased from the Wheelers. The Wheelers agreed to loan Plaintiff money, using farmland he owned as collateral. When disagreements arose, the Wheelers threatened to evict…

Willemsen v. Invacare Corporation
Date: November 10, 2011
Docket Number: S059201

Satrum v. Kroger
Date: November 10, 2011
Docket Number: S059691

Friends of Yamhill County v. Board of Commissioners
Date: October 20, 2011
Docket Number: S058915

Justia Opinion Summary: The question before the Supreme Court in this case was whether a landowner holding a "Measure 37" waiver had a common law vested right to construct a residential subdivision that he had begun but not completed by the…

Arken v. City of Portland
Date: October 6, 2011
Docket Number: S058881

Justia Opinion Summary: This opinion consolidated two cases brought before the Supreme Court on certified appeals from the Court of Appeals. Both cases involved the Public Employees Retirement Board's (PERB or the Board) revision or reduction…

Oregon v. Kurokawa-Lasciak
Date: October 6, 2011
Docket Number: S058898

Justia Opinion Summary: The state charged Defendant Tyler Kurokawa-Lasciak with various drug offenses, and Defendant filed a motion to suppress evidence that the police had obtained from a warrantless search of his rental van. The state…

Goodson v. Public Employees Retirement System
Date: October 6, 2011
Docket Number: S059056

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners sought judicial review of a final order of the Public Employees Retirement Board (PERB). They contested the reduction of their retirement benefits as a result of PERB's efforts to recoup benefit overpayments…

Balboa Apartments v. Patrick
Date: October 6, 2011
Docket Number: S059058

Justia Opinion Summary: ORS 105.135(3) requires a plaintiff in an action for forcible entry and detainer (FED) to serve the summons and complaint "by the end of the judicial day next following the payment of filing fees." The issue in this case…

Rasmussen v. Kroger
Date: October 6, 2011
Docket Number: S059368

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners Gail Rasmussen and Bethanne Darby sought review of the Attorney General's certified ballot title for Initiative Petition 15 (2012). If enacted, Initiative Petition 15 would add a provision to the Oregon…

Oregon v. Davis
Date: September 22, 2011
Docket Number: S058641

Justia Opinion Summary: The State argued that the Court of Appeals erred in reversing one of the trial court's rulings excluding certain evidence. In response, Defendant Terry Davis challenged two of the trial court's other evidentiary rulings…

Lasley v. Combined Transport, Inc.
Date: September 22, 2011
Docket Number: S058762

Justia Opinion Summary: The issues presented to the Supreme Court in this case concerned evidentiary and pleading questions that arose in the trial of a multi-defendant negligence case. Plaintiff Clarence Lasley (the decedent's father) brought…

Oregon v. Cloutier
Date: September 22, 2011
Docket Number: S059039

Justia Opinion Summary: The issue presented to the Supreme Court in this appeal was whether a criminal defendant may, after pleading 'no contest' to a misdemeanor offense, challenge his sentence on the ground that it violates the Due Process…

In re Steffen
Date: September 22, 2011
Docket Number: S059555

Farmers Ins. Co. v. Mowry
Date: September 9, 2011
Docket Number: S058706

Justia Opinion Summary: This case concerned the proper application of stare decisis and required the Supreme Court to decide whether "Collins v. Farmers Ins. Co." was still good law. In "Collins," the Court held that an exclusion in a motor…

Oregon v. Ryan
Date: September 9, 2011
Docket Number: S059065

Justia Opinion Summary: This case tested the limits of a defendant's free speech rights under Article I, 3 section 8, of the Oregon Constitution, and the his violation of a protective order. The victim was an editor with the Portland Tribune, a…

State ex rel Engweiler v. Felton
Date: September 1, 2011
Docket Number: S058311

Justia Opinion Summary: Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark sought a writ of mandamus to compel Attorney General Robert McKenna to pursue an appeal of a trial court decision in a condemnation action. Although Mr. McKenna provided…

Drollinger v. Mallon
Date: September 1, 2011
Docket Number: S058839

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Keith Drollinger, a convicted felon, brought suit against the lawyers who represented him in his attempt to obtain post-conviction relief, but shortly before the matter was scheduled for trial, withdrew.…

Oregon v. Baker
Date: September 1, 2011
Docket Number: S058967

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Hezakiah Baker was charged with multiple counts related to the manufacture and possession of marijuana. Before trial, Defendant moved to suppress evidence seized by Medford city police officers who, without a…

Oregon v. Lopez-Minjarez
Date: August 25, 2011
Docket Number: S059045

Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was whether a uniform criminal jury instruction on aiding and abetting correctly stated Oregon law. The charges in this case arose after Defendant Petronilo Lopez-Minjarez and his father drove…

Rasmussen v. Kroger
Date: August 12, 2011
Docket Number: S059360

State v. Haugen
Date: August 5, 2011
Docket Number: S059519

Oregon v. Walker
Date: July 28, 2011
Docket Number: S058548

Justia Opinion Summary: Police obtained a warrant to search a house for stolen property. When they arrived at the house to execute the warrant, they encountered Defendant Bonnie Lou Walker. They placed her in handcuffs, read her Miranda rights,…

Rasmussen v. Kroger
Date: July 28, 2011
Docket Number: S059360

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners Gail Rasmussen and Bethanne Darby sought review of the Attorney General's certified ballot title for Initiative Petition 14 (2012), arguing that the ballot title did not satisfy the requirements of state…

Lindell v. Kalugin
Date: July 28, 2011
Docket Number: S059437

Lavey v. Kroger
Date: July 28, 2011
Docket Number: S059447

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners Daniel Lavey and Anna Richter Taylor sought review of the Attorney General's certified ballot title for Initiative Petition 16 (2012), arguing that the ballot title did not satisfy the requirements of state…

Strawn v. Farmers Ins. Co.
Date: July 8, 2011
Docket Number: S058572

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants Farmers Insurance Company of Oregon, Mid-Century Insurance Company and Truck Insurance Exchange (Farmers) petitioned the Supreme Court to reconsider an opinion that affirmed a trial court's judgment against it…

Oregon v. Cazares-Mendez
Date: July 8, 2011
Docket Numbers: S058554, S058406

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants Jose Guadalupe Cazares-Mendez and Jorge Reyes-Sanchez were convicted of aggravated murder in the death of Jessie Valero. During their separate trials, the court refused to allow them to present hearsay…

State v. Speedis
Date: June 30, 2011
Docket Number: S058310

Oregon v. Speedis
Date: June 30, 2011
Docket Number: S058310

Justia Opinion Summary: Trial courts may impose enhanced sentences in criminal cases when an aggravating factor provides a substantial and compelling reason for doing so. The state sentencing guidelines list some aggravating factors that trial…

State v. Davis
Date: June 30, 2011
Docket Number: S058572

Oregon v. Davis
Date: June 30, 2011
Docket Number: S058572

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the police informed Defendant John Davis that he was the subject of an investigation for sexual abuse. Defendant retained counsel, who sent a letter to the police invoking his right to remain silent and…

In re Lawrence
Date: June 30, 2011
Docket Number: S058778

State v. Haugen
Date: June 29, 2011
Docket Number: S059519

Stuart v. Pittman
Date: June 3, 2011
Docket Number: S058536

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff John Stuart decided to build a new house on a small farm. He contacted his insurance agent of nineteen years, Defendant Ronald Pittman for "course-of-construction" insurance to cover any problems in the course…

Oregon v. Barrett
Date: May 27, 2011
Docket Number: S059423

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Ivey Barrett was convicted of misdemeanor stalking. The victim in this case is Appellant Linda Barrett, Defendant's estranged wife. Oregon law granted certain crime victims a "meaningful role" with respect to…

Oregon v. Gilmore
Date: May 26, 2011
Docket Number: S058602

Justia Opinion Summary: Two women brandishing swords robbed the Purple Parrot Lounge in Klamath Falls. As a result of that crime, a grand jury charged Defendant Roberta Gilmore with conspiracy and first-degree robbery. The trial court arraigned…

Rasmussen v. Kroger
Date: May 23, 2011
Docket Number: S059261

Strawn v. Farmers Ins. Co.
Date: May 19, 2011
Docket Number: S057520

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Mark Strawn filed a class action suit against Defendants Farmers Insurance Company of Oregon, Mid-Century Insurance Company, and Truck Insurance Exchange (collectively, Farmers). Plaintiff alleged that Farmers…

Willis v. Winters
Date: May 19, 2011
Docket Number: S058645

Justia Opinion Summary: The Sheriffs of Jackson and Washington Counties withheld concealed handgun licenses from persons who met all of the statutory conditions for the issuance of such licenses, but admitted to being regular users of medical…

Morehouse v. Haynes
Date: May 19, 2011
Docket Number: S058725

Oregon v. Guggenmos
Date: May 5, 2011
Docket Number: S057378

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Bobby Guggenmos appealed the Court of Appeals’ decision that affirmed his conviction for possession of a controlled substance. Defendant argued that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress…

In re Castanza
Date: May 5, 2011
Docket Number: S059032

Rasmussen v. Kroger
Date: May 5, 2011
Docket Number: S059261

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners Gail Rasmussen and Bethanne Darby sought review of a certified ballot title for “Initiative Petition 10 (2012).” The proposed measure, if approved by the voters, would amend the state constitution to set the…

Rasmussen v. Kroger
Date: May 5, 2011
Docket Number: S059264

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners Gail Rasmussen and Bethanne Darby sought review of a certified ballot title for “Initiative Petition 12 (2012).” The proposed measure, if approved by the voters, would amend the state constitution to require…

State v. Barger
Date: April 21, 2011
Docket Number: S058345

In re Richardson
Date: April 21, 2011
Docket Number: S059049

Rasmussen v. Kroger
Date: April 21, 2011
Docket Number: S059262

State v. Marshall
Date: April 14, 2011
Docket Number: S058549

State v. Helzer
Date: April 7, 2011
Docket Number: S058001

State v. Foster
Date: April 7, 2011
Docket Number: S058240

Force v. Dept. of Rev.
Date: April 7, 2011
Docket Number: S058252

In re Oh
Date: April 7, 2011
Docket Number: S058434

Snyder v. Espino-Brown
Date: April 7, 2011
Docket Number: S058520

State v. Fowler
Date: April 7, 2011
Docket Number: S058769

In re Lopez
Date: April 7, 2011
Docket Number: S058869

Oregonians for Honest Elections v. Oregon Education Association
Date: April 6, 2011
Docket Number: S058894

Oregon Pipeline Company, LLC v. Clatsop County
Date: March 29, 2011
Docket Number: S059286

State v. Brumwell
Date: March 25, 2011
Docket Number: S054854

In re Groom
Date: March 25, 2011
Docket Number: S057898

State v. Kurtz
Date: March 25, 2011
Docket Number: S058346

Menasha Forest Products Corp. v. Curry County Title
Date: March 25, 2011
Docket Number: S058450

State v. Stokes
Date: March 10, 2011
Docket Number: S057751

Abraham v. T. Henry Construction, Inc.
Date: March 10, 2011
Docket Number: S058073

State v. Heisser
Date: March 10, 2011
Docket Number: S058335

State v. Garrett
Date: March 10, 2011
Docket Number: S058620

State v. American Tobacco Company, Inc.
Date: March 4, 2011
Docket Number: S059248

ZRZ Realty v. Beneficial Fire and Casualty Ins.
Date: March 3, 2011
Docket Number: S057155

White et al v. Public Employees Retirement Board and State of Oregon et al
Date: February 18, 2011
Docket Number: S059213

State v. Sierra
Date: February 17, 2011
Docket Number: S057794

State v. Sundberg
Date: February 17, 2011
Docket Number: S058116

Malan v. Tipton
Date: February 17, 2011
Docket Number: S058156

State v. Kellar
Date: February 17, 2011
Docket Number: S058369

Howell v. Boyle
Date: February 17, 2011
Docket Number: S059120

Hamlin v. Hampton Lumber Mills, Inc.
Date: January 6, 2011
Docket Number: S056700

State v. Ritchie
Date: January 6, 2011
Docket Number: S057701

State v. Barger
Date: January 6, 2011
Docket Number: S058345