State v. Scott, 335 P.3d 1283

Defendant, tried by bench, was convicted of assault in the second degree (Count 2), and found guilty of assault in the fourth degree (lesser included of Count 1) and unlawful use of a weapon (Count 4).
Defendant raised a self-defense defense and sought to admit evidence that the complainant had previously assaulted defendant about ten years earlier.
The trial court sustained objections and excluded the prior-acts evidence as irrelevant to the current self-defense claim.
On appeal, defendant argued that the prior assault evidence was admissible under OEC 404(1) to show the complainant’s violent character relevant to self-defense.
The appellate court held that the evidence was admissible because it related to the complainant’s conduct and the defendant’s reasonable belief of imminent danger, and that excluding it was error.
The court reversed Counts 1, 2, and 4, remanded for resentencing, and otherwise affirmed, with the trial court having merged Counts 1 and 4 into Count 2 and acquitted Count 3.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Admissibility under OEC 404(1) of prior assault evidence	Beisser: prior acts admissible to self-defense	Lotches relevance limited; not probative of current self-defense	Evidence admissible; exclusion error reversible

State v. Lunow, 131 Or App 429 (Or. App. 1994) (allows prior violence to support self-defense when it bears on reasonableness)
Beisser, 258 Or App 326 (Or. App. 2013) (reaffirms admissibility of complainant’s prior violent acts in self-defense)
State v. Oliphant, 347 Or 175 (Or. 2009) (self-defense depends on defendant’s reasonable belief, not actual unlawfulness)
State v. Lotches, 331 Or 455 (Or. 2000) (excluded prior acts evidence when not demonstrating a character trait; distinguishable)
State v. Davis, 336 Or 19 (Or. 2003) (harmlessness standard for evidentiary error in criminal trials)