In 1996 the Oregon Legislature enacted the Repeat Property Offender’s Act (“REPO”) which required prison sentences for people who were convicted of property crimes and who had a prior record of property crime convictions. The prior convictions become “predicate convictions” which initially triggered mandatory sentences of 13 and 18 months, depending on the seriousness of…
Starting on January 1, 2014, any person who was convicted of DUII for a third or subsequent time had their license to drive revoked for life. This included the total of all DUII convictions, no matter how old. However, there is a possibility of petitioning for reinstatement of your license after ten years. Here are…
As a Gresham and Portland DUII lawyer, I actively seek sentencing solutions for my DUII clients which allow them to maintain family, employment, financial and treatment stability while serving alternative “jail” sentences in DUII cases. I negotiate and argue for the best options for my clients. Treatment courts can be a good option for the…
In over thirty years of practicing criminal defense in Portland Gresham and Oregon City, I have changed my approach to criminal cases. As a young lawyer, I enjoyed the strategy of the negotiations with the district attorney and the contest of a courtroom trial. I still enjoy these aspects of my practice, since the competition…
As a Portland Drug Crimes Lawyer, I have seen people get into trouble by acquiring prescription drugs through the internet. It may seem like a good idea to purchase prescription drugs over the internet or purchase them in foreign countries. After all, they advertise steep discounts on common drugs and delivery to your home by mail,…
As a Gresham Criminal Defense Lawyer, it is important to understand the structure of the court system in Multnomah County. The Multnomah County Circuit Court has two courthouses dedicated to handling adult criminal cases. The primary courthouse is in Downtown Portland on Fourth Avenue. This building was completed in 1914 and renovated many times over the…
The 2013 legislature made two changes to Oregon’s Diversion Program. The changes were sponsored by the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyer’s Association and the Oregon District Attorney’s Association. As a Portland DUII Attorney I support these changes. Diversion is a deferred sentencing program in which a person enters a plea of guilty or no contest to DUII, but…
In my last blog I discussed the hypothetical client named “John.” John was prescribed Oxycontin after an on the job injury. Like many clients, he became addicted to this dangerous drug. Here is the story of how that happened. John’s Portland, Oregon doctor handed out Oxycontin like candy, raising his dosage over time to the maximum of 80…
As a Portland Criminal Defense Lawyer, I see many people who come by their legal problems as a result of the drug addiction driven criminal behavior. I see many cases where a client has become addicted to opiates as a result of taking prescribed medication in the course of legitimate medical treatment. Many criminal cases unfold…
In Oregon, certain criminal convictions can be expunged (set aside and sealed) after a period of time. The rule is that a person must be free from criminal convictions for ten years preceding the filing of the motion, not counting the offense one is trying to remove from a criminal record. This is an important…
In my experience as a Portland Criminal Defense Lawyer, I see people selling supposedly legal substitutes for illegal drugs. Today, many “head shops” and internet companies market items marked as “bath salts” or “plant fertilizer” or “stain remover” as legal substitutes for cocaine and MDMA. These crystalline powders have nothing to do with bathing, plants or…
Oregon law allows a Court to reduce Class C felony crimes to a misdemeanor. This can be done at the time of sentencing or later, after completion of probation. For many years, Courts in Oregon have held that people who reduce their felony to a misdemeanor after completion of probation do not have their gun rights…
Portland Property Crimes Attorneys should take note of a recent Oregon Supreme Court decision which makes a significant change in Oregon Law. By way of background, in 1982 the Oregon Supreme Court issued its opinion in State v. Freeland, a case which set clear limits on prosecutorial discretion. In Freeland, a district attorney charged a person with a…
In passing House Bill 3194 the 2013 Oregon Legislature attempted to make broad changes in the way in which offenders are supervised and also included one provision that will actually benefit people who are compliant on supervision. These are important changes that should be studied by Portland Probation Violation Lawyers. The most significant change was in…
There are significant differences between Oregon’s DUII law and Washington’s DUI. These differences extend both to the way driving under the influence is defined and the manner in which violations of the laws are punished. In Oregon, a person commits a DUII when they operate a vehicle (which includes a bicycle) at a time when…
The Oregon Supreme Court issued an important decision for Oregon Gun Rights Lawyers and those interested in protecting their right to keep and bear arms. The decision is an outgrowth of two United States Supreme Court cases decided a few years ago. In 2008 the United States Supreme Court decided District of Columbia v. Heller, a case in…
The Oregon Legislature failed to enact Governor Kitzhaber’s proposed changes to Measure 11 in the last legislative session. Governor Kitzhaber proposed enacting a way for minors to argue their way into Juvenile Court in Measure 11 cases and exempting some lower level crimes from Measure 11 for juveniles and adults. District Attorney’s across the state…
It is common for prosecutors in Oregon DUII cases to introduce evidence, through expert testimony, that purports to estimate a person’s blood alcohol concentration at a particular point in time. These estimates, called “retrograde extrapolation,” are based on “Widmark’s Formula,” an equation developed by a Swedish Physician in the early 1980′s. Widmark’s equation makes certain…
House Bill 3194 made some important changes to the manner in which some crimes are punished. The most significant changes were to the manner in which prison inmates are released. In the past, too many prison inmates were released into the community without sufficient support or supervision and without using modern tools to determine exactly…
House Bill 3194 started out as an ambitious plan to modify Measure 11 and to end the mandatory prosecution of juveniles in adult court. Unfortunately, none of the changes to Measure 11 survived during the amendment process. Significant changes were made in the way some crimes are punished and in the process in which prison…
Oregon Law has allowed for people to “expunge,” or seal, the record of their arrest and conviction for certain crimes. Generally speaking, misdemeanors and Class C Felonies can be expunged from a person’s record after a period of time, either three or ten years, depending on the circumstances. Some offenses, such as traffic crimes and…
Since 1989, Oregon has followed a set of sentencing guidelines in order to determine the proper sentence for a felony criminal offender. These guidelines rank the seriousness of a particular felony crime and take into account a person’s prior criminal history. The crime seriousness and scored criminal history produce a “presumptive sentence” which is set…
When Tyler McNeely was stopped by a Missouri police officer he must have known that he was in big trouble. He had two prior DUII convictions and a third conviction would be a felony. The officer smelled alcohol and asked him to perform field sobriety tests. McNeely refused a portable roadside breath test. When he…
Governor Kitzhaber and others are proposing the first significant changes to Measure 11 in over a decade. The Governor’s concern is driven mainly by projected prison costs over the next ten years and the likely need to build and staff more prisons if changes are not made to this 1995 law. House Bill 3194 proposes a number…
This is an important ruling for Oregon Drug Crimes Attorneys as it applies to searches in Oregon. In 2006 Joelis Jardines’ Florida home was approached by two Miami-Dade police detectives. The two detectives approached the front door, but they did not knock. Under ordinary circumstances, there is nothing unusual, or illegal, with the police entering a person’s…
The Oregon Supreme Court issued two unusual rulings in a pair of cases on January 10, 2013 that were pending before the Court. State v. Davis and State v. Lumpkinswere “affirmed by an equally divided court,” meaning that the original rulings were affirmed because the votes on the court were tied. This is a fairly rare occurrence and…
Prior to 2011 active duty military personnel, who were charged with DUII were forced to make a hard choice between two unpleasant options. Many military service members had active duty commitments which prevented them from completing the DUII Diversion Program in the twelve to eighteen months allowed by Oregon Law. See ORS 813.230. This was…
In 2011 the Oregon Legislature amended ORS 813.602(2) as follows: “The court shall require as a condition of a driving while under the influence of intoxicants diversion agreement that an approved ignition interlock device be installed in any vehicle operated by the person during the period of the agreement when the person has driving privileges.”…
Simply asserting your right to remain silent and right to counsel will not stop the police from trying to get you to admit to crimes. These admissions can be used in court. The only way to protect yourself is to speak only to your lawyer about your case. A lawyer can only protect your rights…
State v. Potter: If you already have an Oregon criminal defense attorney on one case and the police come to talk to you about another case, we recommend our clients assert your right to counsel and do not talk to them unless your attorney tells you to talk to them. We warn our clients, if…
Most of the time we advise our clients not to consent to a search of their persons, homes, cars or belongings, no matter what the police say to them. If you are arrested and the police want to search your home or belongings, you can invoke your right to counsel, but that won’t save you…
Since 2003, Oregon Law has provided that a person convicted of DUII for a third time must have their license revoked for their lifetime. The language of this statute could be interpreted to include all DUII convictions a person has received during their entire lifetime in any state. DUII defense lawyers argue that not all…
The State Department of Human Services is considering making some significant changes in the length of treatment for persons convicted of DUII. Currently, a person convicted of DUII is required to participate in treatment for a minimum of 90 days, remain abstinent from all drugs and alcohol during that period of time and submit to…
Oregon law has special requirements for DUII prosecutions that are based on an allegation that the person was under the influence of a combination of alcohol and a controlled substance. In order to proceed on that theory the state is required to make that allegation specifically, in writing, in the charging instrument. These hybrid DUII charges have become…
On October 14, 2010 the Oregon State Board of Pharmacy completed its evaluation of the “synthetic marijuana” that is sold in shops as “Spice” or “K2.” These substances were first marketed as incense in 2008, but have come to be widely used as a substitute for marijuana. These “synthetic cannabinoids” were developed for research purposes…
Most people who are stopped for DUII are baffled by the officer’s request to have them watch as he or she moves a pen back and forth across their field of vision. The test is known as the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Test and is used by DUII enforcement officers across the country. In this test…
Ballot Measure 73 passed with 57 percent of the vote on November 2, 2010. The Measure, which, among other things, expands those subject to the charge of Felony DUII, will go into effect 30 days after the election; December 2, 2010. Measure 73 makes DUII a felony if a person has two prior DUII convictions within ten…
Many people are surprised to hear that a person who has been convicted of DUII or entered the Diversion program is much more likely to be stopped again by the police in the future. The “why?” of that fact is simple and something we regularly observe every day. How often have you seen a police…
The crimes of Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants and Boating Under the Influence of Intoxicants share many similarities. However, there are also some peculiar differences. The offenses are similar in terms of the severity of the punishment. Both are Class A Misdemeanors carrying a possible maximum jail term of one year and/or a possible…
Contrary to popular belief, polygraph examination can be used in certain court proceedings. Since 1984, when the Oregon Supreme Court decided State v. Brown, court’s in Oregon have been forbidden from allowing the admission of a polygraph test, even if the parties agree to admit the results into evidence, in the course of a civil…
Marijuana Will Be Reclassified in Oregon From a Schedule 1 Drug to a Lower Classification In 1970, the Unites States Congress passed the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act which completely revamped the way that drugs were controlled in the United States. One of the major features of the act was to place both…
This term, the United States Supreme Court will take the next step in deciding how much protection gun owners have from regulation of their right to bear arms under the Second Amendment. The issue this term is the constitutionality of the gun regulations of the City of Chicago. The City of Chicago requires the registration…
A police officer has the right to stop your vehicle if he has probable cause to believe you have violated a traffic law, including both driving and equipment violations. Many DUII cases begin after police officers have pulled people over for touching or driving across fog lines or center lines on the road, which constitutes the traffic…
On January 1, 2010, Oregon joined the growing number of states restricting the use of cell phones while driving. The 2009 legislature expanded Oregon’s cell phone driving restrictions in the wake of new data showing that distracted driving was a major problem on Oregon highways. In fact, texting while driving has been shown to be…
Every day in Oregon police officers have encounters with drivers and passengers of vehicles during routine traffic stops. Often the police will develop a suspicion that the stopped drivers or passengers have drugs in their possession either in the vehicle, on their persons or in their belongings (backpacks, suitcases etc). The police officers may try…
Eligibility requirements for Oregon’s DUII Diversion Program have again been changed by the Oregon Legislature. Alterations to Oregon DUII laws are among the most common areas for new legislation, resulting in changes every two years. Oregon’s DUII Diversion Program was created in 1979, at the same time the Legislature changed the law to make all DUII’s a…
In 1999 the Oregon Legislature created the new crime of Felony DUII. Under that law, persons who were convicted of their fourth DUII in a ten year span had the offense elevated to a Class C Felony rather than a misdemeanor. However, the law was drafted so as to exclude DUII convictions in Juvenile Court (“Juvenile…
The 2009 legislature made changes in Oregon Law in order to bring the State into compliance with the rules of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Since 2002, federal rules have prohibited any state from offering any type of “diversion” or similar program to a commercial license holder, even for citations received while the person…
During the 2009 session the Oregon Legislature made a number of changes in the laws which affect persons charged with or convicted of the crime of DUII in Oregon. One of these law changes went into effect on July 1, 2009. ASSAULT IN THE THIRD DEGREE ORS 163.165 Effective July 1, 2009, House Bill 3508 (in relevant part)…