State v. Murphy, 478 P.3d 1018

Defendant Tyrone Neil Murphy was charged with multiple sexual-offense counts: five counts of first-degree sodomy, four counts of second-degree sexual abuse, and two counts of first-degree rape.
The state dismissed Counts 1 and 4 before trial; the jury acquitted on Count 11 and convicted on Counts 2, 3, and 5–10.
On appeal Murphy raised seven assignments of error; three were rejected without written discussion. Two disputed issues remained: denial of a motion to sever and the trial court’s acceptance of a nonunanimous verdict.
Murphy argued joinder prejudiced him (OEC 403) and impaired his right to testify regarding selected charges; the trial court denied severance and the appellate court affirmed that denial.
The court concluded the jury’s nonunanimous verdicts constituted plain constitutional error under Ramos and Ulery; convictions on Counts 2, 3, and 5–10 were reversed and remanded for new trial; remaining rulings were affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Denial of motion to sever joined charges	Joinder was proper because evidence was admissible for nonpropensity purposes and was sufficiently simple/distinct to avoid undue prejudice	Joinder prejudiced defendant under OEC 403 and would impair his right to testify as to some charges but not others	Affirmed: no severance error—evidence admissible for nonpropensity purposes; evidence sufficiently simple/distinct; acquittal on the charge he would have testified to negated any claimed self-incrimination harm
Acceptance of a nonunanimous jury verdict	State conceded acceptance of a nonunanimous verdict was error	Nonunanimous verdict violated Sixth Amendment unanimity right	Reversed and remanded: acceptance of nonunanimous verdict was plain error under Ramos and Ulery; convictions on Counts 2, 3, and 5–10 vacated and remanded for new trial

State v. Miller, 327 Or. 622 (evidence admissible for nonpropensity purposes)
State v. Buyes, 280 Or. App. 564 (sufficiently simple and distinct evidence mitigates joinder prejudice)
State v. Gensler, 266 Or. App. 1 (application of evidence-code protections in joinder context)
Ramos v. Louisiana, 140 S. Ct. 1390 (nonunanimous jury verdicts violate Sixth Amendment)
State v. Ulery, 366 Or. 500 (trial court acceptance of nonunanimous verdict is plain error; appellate courts may correct)