Oregon Supreme Court Decisions 2014
Date: December 26, 2014
Docket Number: S061183
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case is what ORS 654.086(2) means when it says that an employer "could not with the exercise of reasonable diligence know" of a violation. Employer CBI Services, Inc. performed work on a water treatment…
Date: December 26, 2014
Docket Number: S061802
Justia Opinion Summary: This case presented the question of what standard applied to determine whether an unequivocal invocation of the right against self-incrimination was made and the particular question of whether, in the context in which…
Date: December 26, 2014
Docket Number: S061818
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue this case presented for the Oregon Supreme Court's review centered on two issues: whether the legal presumption described in "Troxel v. Granville," (530 US 57 (2000) (plurality opinion)), that a fit parent acts…
Date: December 17, 2014
Docket Number: S061821
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue this case presented for the Oregon Supreme Court's review was whether an anticipatory release of a ski area operator’s liability for its own negligence in a ski pass agreement was enforceable. Plaintiff…
Date: December 11, 2014
Docket Number: S061836
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant drove through a stop sign and collided with a car in which plaintiff was a passenger. Plaintiff filed a negligence action, which was tried to a jury of twelve. The trial court instructed the jury that defendant…
Date: November 20, 2014
Docket Number: S061958
Justia Opinion Summary: Taxpayer Erma Glasgow challenged the Tax Court’s jurisdiction, its conclusion that she was liable for personal income taxes based on wages that she earned in tax years 2007 through 2010, and its assessment of a penalty…
Date: November 6, 2014
Docket Number: S061647
Justia Opinion Summary: Police officers unlawfully detained defendant when he was a passenger in a car. During that detention, the officers ascertained defendant’s identity, ran a warrant check, and discovered defendant was the subject of an…
Date: October 30, 2014
Docket Number: S059476
Justia Opinion Summary: The State charged defendant with one count of aggravated murder for the starvation, neglect and abuse of her daughter, "Jeanette," and one count of tampering with physical evidence. She moved to suppress statements she…
Date: October 30, 2014
Docket Number: S061421
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs had been firefighters for the city of Portland when they suffered disabling injuries. The city's charger required it to provide disability benefits to its police and fire employees who suffer injuries in the…
Date: October 2, 2014
Docket Number: S059764
Justia Opinion Summary: This case was a direct appeal of an Oregon Tax Court Regular Division decision to set aside an Opinion and Order issued by the Director of the Department of Revenue. The primary issue this case presented to the Supreme…
Date: October 2, 2014
Docket Number: S060604
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff worked for a lumber mill, Sun Studs, LLC. One evening while walking from one area of the mill to another, a forklift hit and severely injured him. After receiving workers' compensation benefits, plaintiff…
Date: October 2, 2014
Docket Number: S061463
Justia Opinion Summary: The issues this case presented for the Supreme Court were whether ORS 243.303(2) (which requires local governments to make available to retired employees, "insofar as and to the extent possible," the health care…
Date: October 2, 2014
Docket Number: S061517
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was an order of the Public Utility Commission (PUC) that addressed Portland General Electric's (PGE) recovery of its capital investment in the Trojan nuclear generating facility after that facility…
Date: September 18, 2014
Docket Number: S061133
Justia Opinion Summary: In consolidated property tax appeals, taxpayers challenged the valuation of their real property by the Clackamas County Assessor. In their appeals to the Magistrate Division of the Tax Court, they challenged only the…
Date: September 18, 2014
Docket Number: S061812
Justia Opinion Summary: This case centered on the interpretation and application of two statutes, ORS 144.335(3) and ORS 144.135, to a final order of the Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision that postponed petitioner’s release date from…
Date: August 28, 2014
Docket Number: S060868
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, a police officer on patrol encountered defendant at 10:00 p.m. in an area behind a shopping center where criminal activity frequently occurred. The officer stopped defendant and obtained her consent to…
Date: August 28, 2014
Docket Number: S060888
Justia Opinion Summary: The state charged defendant with manufacture of cocaine and endangering the welfare of a minor, among other things. Before trial, defendant moved to suppress physical evidence and statements obtained by detectives after…
Date: August 28, 2014
Docket Number: S060969
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, defendant challenged the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained during a voluntary consent search, which had followed an officer reaching into defendant’s apartment to knock on his…
Date: August 21, 2014
Docket Number: S060828
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue this case presented to the Supreme Court was what constitutes an "enterprise" within the meaning of the Oregon Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (ORICO). Defendant was charged with one count of…
Date: August 14, 2014
Docket Number: S061094
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Sea River Properties, LLC and defendant Loren Parks owned adjoining parcels of land on the central Oregon coast. After the United States government built two jetties to contain the Nehalem River, the ocean and…
Date: August 14, 2014
Docket Number: S061670
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Martin Johnson was convicted of eight counts of aggravated murder and sentenced to death. After an unsuccessful direct appeal, petitioner sought post-conviction relief, arguing (among other things) ineffective…
Date: August 7, 2014
Docket Number: S060766
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of possession of marijuana and methamphetamine after police officers stopped him and discovered those controlled substances on him. The trial court concluded that the officer who stopped defendant…
Date: August 7, 2014
Docket Number: S060875
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was found guilty of 20 counts of second-degree animal neglect. The issue on appeal to the Supreme Court in this case was whether defendant was guilty of 20 separately punishable offenses, which turned on the…
Date: August 7, 2014
Docket Number: S060946
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue presented in these two consolidated cases centered on the meaning of the term "use" in ORS 166.220(1)(a): "a person commits the crime of unlawful use of a weapon if he or she '[a]ttempts to use unlawfully…
Date: August 7, 2014
Docket Number: S061636
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the trial court granted wife’s petition for a restraining order against husband and entered that order in the trial court register on May 9, 2013. On June 10 2013, husband’s attorney filed a notice of…
Date: August 7, 2014
Docket Number: S061740
Justia Opinion Summary: Codefendants Fessenden and Dicke jointly owned a horse, which they kept on Dicke’s property. Dicke’s neighbors called the sheriff’s office to report that the horse appeared to be starving. An officer with specialized…
Date: July 9, 2014
Docket Number: S061409
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury found defendant guilty of murder. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the case based on its conclusion that the trial court had erroneously admitted eyewitness testimony of two witnesses that identified…
Date: July 9, 2014
Docket Number: S061434
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of resisting arrest for violating the terms of his parole. Defendant argued on appeal that an "arrest," as used on ORS 162.315, required that a person be restrained or placed in custody for the…
Date: June 26, 2014
Docket Number: S060300
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with soliciting another person to commit aggravated murder. Evidence presented as trial showed that defendant asked the other person to deliver certain information to a third person which defendant…
Date: June 19, 2014
Docket Number: S058490
Justia Opinion Summary: This case came before the Oregon Supreme Court on automatic appeal. Defendant Michael Washington was sentenced to death for the aggravated murder of Mohammed Jabbie. Defendant raised 22 alleged errors from both the guilt…
Date: June 12, 2014
Docket Number: S061162
Justia Opinion Summary: In October 2009, a jury found petitioner guilty of one count of second-degree assault constituting domestic violence, one count of possession of methamphetamine, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a minor. The…
Date: May 30, 2014
Docket Number: S060879
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, the owners of real property in Linn County, brought an inverse condemnation action against the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). Plaintiffs alleged that ODOT, by repeatedly making representations to…
Date: May 30, 2014
Docket Number: S060980
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, the petitioner in the underlying post-conviction case, sought a writ of mandamus to compel the Marion County Circuit Court to issue a protective order with respect to documents and communications subject to…
Date: May 30, 2014
Docket Number: S061072
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner sought a writ of mandamus to compel the Marion County Circuit Court to issue a protective order with respect to documents and communications subject to the lawyer-client privilege. Petitioner’s proposed…
Date: May 30, 2014
Docket Number: S061086
Justia Opinion Summary: Davis Wright Tremaine LLP ("DWT") challenged a trial court order compelling production of certain materials that, in DWT’s view, were protected under the attorney-client privilege. The trial court issued the order in the…
Date: May 30, 2014
Docket Number: S061149
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2002, defendant Gregory Bowen assaulted his ex-girlfriend and, in a different incident the same day, killed a friend and committed theft from that victim. Defendant was charged with two alternative counts of…
Date: May 30, 2014
Docket Number: S061191
Justia Opinion Summary: The juvenile court took jurisdiction over A.J.C. for conduct that, if committed by an adult, would have constituted possession of a firearm in a public building, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful use of a…
Date: May 30, 2014
Docket Number: S062154
Justia Opinion Summary: In a consolidated ballot title case, three sets of petitioners have petitioned the Supreme Court to review the ballot title for Initiative Petition 58. Initiative Petition 58 (IP 58), essentially identical to Initiative…
Date: May 15, 2014
Docket Number: S060455
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants held an around-the-clock vigil on the steps of the state capitol to protest the deployment of Oregon National Guard troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. During that vigil, the state police cited defendants for…
Date: May 15, 2014
Docket Number: S060581
Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals rejected petitioners' contention that Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's (ODFW) approval of "channel-spanning fishways" associated with two small, privately maintained dams downstream from…
Date: May 8, 2014
Docket Number: S059316
Justia Opinion Summary: The City of Milwaukie used highly pressurized water to clean sewer lines adjacent to plaintiff's house, causing sewage to back up through toilets and bathroom fixtures. Plaintiff sued the city seeking compensation for…
Date: May 8, 2014
Docket Number: S061536
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs Linda Two Two and Patricia Fodge filed a complaint against defendant that included claims for negligence and strict liability. Plaintiffs alleged that they had been injured in separate incidents in 2008 when…
Date: May 8, 2014
Docket Number: S062043
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners sought review of the ballot title for Initiative Petition 38 (2014) (IP 38), arguing that the ballot title does not satisfy the requirements of ORS 250.035(2). IP 38, if adopted, would alter the Oregon…
Date: May 8, 2014
Docket Number: S062075
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners sought review of the ballot title for Initiative Petition 44 (2014) that if adopted, would have enacted statutory provisions to impose certain requirements on food manufacturers and retailers concerning the…
Date: April 24, 2014
Docket Number: S060533
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue in this mandamus proceeding was whether the trial court correctly denied defendants' motion to change venue. Plaintiffs, a husband and wife, initiated a medical malpractice action against defendants in…
Date: April 24, 2014
Docket Number: S061171
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Sunset Presbyterian Church contracted with defendant Brockamp & Jaeger to act as its general contractor and build a new church facility. Defendant then subcontracted with Anderson Roofing Company and other…
Date: April 24, 2014
Docket Number: S061386
Justia Opinion Summary: Mother and father are the parents of eight children, who ranged in age from one to ten years old when this case began. After a neighbor notified DHS about the conditions in parents' home, a DHS caseworker checked on…
Date: April 24, 2014
Docket Number: S061488
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant general contractor Super One, Inc., and various subcontractors, including defendant subcontractor T. T. & L. Sheet Metal, Inc., contracted with VIP's Industries, Inc. and VIP's Motor Inns, Inc. (VIP's) to build…
Date: April 24, 2014
Docket Number: S062082
Justia Opinion Summary: In a consolidated ballot title case, three sets of petitioners asked the Supreme Court to review the ballot title for Initiative Petition 47 (2014). Initiative Petition 47 (IP 47), if enacted, would have changed the way…
Date: April 16, 2014
Docket Number: S058390
Justia Opinion Summary: This case came before this court on automatic and direct review of defendant's judgment of conviction and sentence of death for multiple counts of aggravated murder. Defendant raised 30 assignments of error. The Supreme…
Date: April 16, 2014
Docket Number: S060993
Justia Opinion Summary: In this product liability action, plaintiff appealed a judgment for defendants after a jury trial. The Court of Appeals affirmed without considering the merits of nine of plaintiff's ten assignments of instructional and…
Date: April 10, 2014
Docket Number: S060416
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Chester Westfall brought a civil action against the State claiming that the Department of Corrections had kept him in prison longer than his lawful term of incarceration. Specifically, he alleged that the…
Date: March 20, 2014
Docket Number: S059138
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Marco Montez was convicted of aggravated murder for which he received the death sentence. He sought post-conviction relief, arguing he received ineffective assistance of counsel during the 1992 penalty-phase…
Date: March 20, 2014
Docket Number: S060957
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a seller seeking damages from a buyer that breached contracts to purchase goods, argued at trial that it was entitled to recover its market price damages. The trial court determined that plaintiff was entitled…
Date: March 20, 2014
Docket Number: S061362
Justia Opinion Summary: The parties were married for 21 years. At the time of trial, husband was 51 and wife was 53. Husband was a practicing attorney with the Army Corps of Engineers. Wife worked at the Bonneville Power Administration. Both…
Date: March 20, 2014
Docket Number: S061395
Justia Opinion Summary: Relator James Lopes sought a peremptory writ of mandamus to direct the Multnomah County Circuit Court to vacate an order authorizing the involuntary administration of medication for the purpose of restoring relator's…
Date: February 20, 2014
Docket Number: S060960
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was injured when one negligent driver and (shortly thereafter) another negligent driver collided with the truck in which plaintiff was a passenger. The underinsured motorist benefits available to plaintiff…
Date: February 13, 2014
Docket Number: S060017
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2005, the Oregon Legislature added a new exception to the prohibition against the admission of hearsay evidence. Throughout the litigation, defendant argued that his wife's hearsay statements did not come within the…
Date: February 13, 2014
Docket Number: S061049
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue before the Supreme Court in this case centered on alternative legal and equitable claims for damages and a constructive trust on real property that arose from the same breach of fiduciary duty. The primary…
Date: February 13, 2014
Docket Number: S061222
Justia Opinion Summary: Father sought review of a judgment for unpaid past child support. In the judgment document, the circuit court imposed judgment for the unpaid installments and accrued interest on each installment, and postjudgment…
Date: February 13, 2014
Docket Number: S061785
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners sought review of the Attorney General's certified ballot title for Initiative Petition 31 (2014). IP 31 ("Oregon Lottery Local Control Act") was a proposed constitutional amendment that would dedicate 50…
Date: February 13, 2014
Docket Number: S061850
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners McCann and Harmon sought review of the Attorney General's certified ballot title for Initiative Petition 33 (2014). Initiative Petition 33 (IP 33) would make substantive changes to Oregon tax law. After…
Date: January 30, 2014
Docket Number: S060790
Justia Opinion Summary: Lois McIntyre was the 1930 "Queen of the Pendleton Round-Up." As queen, she was given a "Queen Outfit" that consisted of a white satin shirt, a white leather vest and riding skirt with black and white fringe, and a black…
Date: January 30, 2014
Docket Number: S061003
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted defendant of possession of a weapon by an inmate. The State conceded on appeal that the trial court erred when it denied defendant's request that it instruct the jury on a lesser-included offense of…
Date: January 30, 2014
Docket Number: S061799
Justia Opinion Summary: Initiative Petition 30, if adopted, would have changed the minimum tax corporations paid: it would have eliminated the current cap on minimum taxes, and changed the cap on certain others. Petitioners sought review of the…
Date: January 16, 2014
Docket Number: S060789
Justia Opinion Summary: In a wage claim case, the issue before the Supreme Court was whether the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) correctly determined that a business entity, Blachana, LLC, was a "successor" employer and must, therefore,…
Date: January 16, 2014
Docket Number: S061452
Justia Opinion Summary: Four cases challenged the constitutionality of Senate Bill (SB) 822, which was passed by the 2013 Legislative Assembly during its regular session, and SB 861, passed during a special session in October 2013. Both bills…
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