State v. Morales, 476 P.3d 965

At WinCo, Morales told his mother he had been hit by a car; she called 9‑1‑1 and remained on the line while Morales stayed nearby. Police responded, watched security footage, and concluded Morales had lied; he was arrested and charged under ORS 162.375(1) (initiating a false report).
At trial the court included the uniform instruction wording, adding the sentence: “Persons can act in concert to initiate a false report.”
Morales objected below, arguing that the “in concert” language was misleading (and proposing clarifying instructions that the court refused). He preserved an objection that the instruction could permit conviction without proof he initiated the report.
The prosecutor argued in closing that Morales initiated the false report by telling his mother, being present during the 9‑1‑1 call, identifying himself to the officer, and asking the officer to investigate.
On appeal the court held the “in concert” instruction was legally misleading under State v. Branch because it risked allowing conviction without a finding that Morales’s conduct ‘‘marked the beginning’’ of a false report to law enforcement; the error was not harmless. Case reversed and remanded.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Preservation of instructional challenge	State: appellate claim unpreserved because defendant did not specifically raise omission of the word “simultaneously” below	Morales: he timely objected to the misleading “in concert” language and proposed clarifications—sufficient to preserve the issue	Preserved: objection that the instruction was misleading was raised below and is reviewable
Validity/harmlessness of the “persons can act in concert” instruction	State: instruction derived from precedent (Velasquez) and prosecution argued jury could rely on Morales’s combined conduct with his mother to convict	Morales: instruction misleadingly allowed conviction without proof he “initiated” the report to law enforcement as defined in Branch	Instruction was erroneous and not harmless; reversed and remanded

State v. Branch, 362 Or 351, 408 P.3d 1035 (2018) (defines when a communication “initiates” a false report under ORS 162.375).
State v. Velasquez, 286 Or App 400, 400 P.3d 1018 (2017) (source of the “persons can act in concert” wording relied on by the state).
Rogers v. Meridian Park Hospital, 307 Or 612, 772 P.2d 929 (1989) (cautions against converting appellate‑opinion language directly into jury instructions).
State v. Payne, 366 Or 588, 468 P.3d 445 (2020) (harmless‑error review considers parties’ trial contentions and the instructions as a whole).
State v. Barnes, 329 Or 327, 986 P.2d 1160 (1999) (standard of review for legal error in jury instructions).