Defendant appeals a judgment convicting him of perjury, ORS 162.065, assigning error to the trial court’s instruction to the jury that it was required to accept certain facts as having been proved beyond a reasonable doubt in a prior proceeding. Defendant argues the instruction removed an element of
The facts are procedural and undisputed. In a prior criminal case, defendant was charged with two couhts of manslaughter and one count of driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII) in connection with a fatal automobile accident in which two of defendant’s friends were killed. Defendant denied that he was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident and testified to that effect at his trial. Despite that testimony, the jury found defendant guilty of manslaughter and DUII. Implicit in that verdict was a conclusion that defendant had been driving the vehicle at the time of the accident. See, e.g., ORS 813.010(1) (“A person commits the offense of driving while under the influence of intoxicants if the person drives a vehicle ***.” (Emphasis added.)). The state then charged defendant with perjury for his allegedly false testimony in the first trial.
At a pretrial hearing for the perjury trial, the state sought a special jury instruction labeled “Matter Determined by Former Judgment.” In that instruction, the state sought to have the court instruct the jury that certain facts related to the perjury case had been proved beyond a reasonable doubt in defendant’s first trial. The special instruction stated:
“In previous proceedings in this Court, [defendant] was found, beyond a reasonable doubt to have recklessly caused the deaths of [the victims] on September 18,2010, * * * while [defendant] was driving under the influence of intoxicants. “You are instructed to accept these facts as having been proven beyond a reasonable doubt and shall not deviate from these facts when reaching your verdict.”
(Emphasis added.)
Defendant objected to the state’s requested special instruction, arguing that it was unconstitutional to apply issue preclusion offensively against a criminal defendant especially considering the state’s burden of proof in criminal cases. In defense of its proposed instruction, the state argued that the issue preclusion rule, embodied in ORS 43.160,
The trial court ruled that it would give the state’s special instruction and that the state was permitted to tell the jury that they would be receiving that instruction. In making that ruling, the court stated:
“I don’t find that the instruction offends the defendant’s due process. The defendant had a full opportunity to litigate those issues, was represented by competent counsel and I’m not able to find any decisional law that says defendants can use collateral estoppel but the state can’t.”
At the close of the trial, the court instructed the jury, in relevant part, as follows:
“In a previous proceeding in this court, [defendant] was found beyond a reasonable doubt to have recklessly caused the death of [the victims] on September 18th[, 2010,] *** while [defendant] was driving a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicants.
“You are instructed to accept these facts as having been proved beyond a reasonable doubt and shall not deviate from these facts when reaching your verdict.
“Oregon law provides that a person commits the crime of perjury if the person makes a false sworn statement in regard to a material issue knowing it to be false.
“In this case, to establish the crime of perjury, the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt the following six elements: The act occurred in LaneCounty, Oregon; the act occurred on or about December 16, 2010; [defendant] made a sworn statement as alleged in the charge that he was not the driver on September 18th, 2010 [,] when [the victims] were killed in a driving under the influence of intoxicant crash; the statement was false; [defendant] made the statement with knowledge that it was false; and the statement was made in regard to a material issue.”
(Emphasis added.) After deliberating, the jury returned a guilty verdict, and the court entered a judgment of conviction for perjury.
On appeal, defendant argues that the trial court erred in giving the state’s special instruction because doing so interfered with his constitutional rights under Article I, section 11, of the Oregon Constitution and the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution to have a jury determine every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Defendant acknowledges that, in Oregon, the doctrine of issue preclusion applies in both civil and criminal cases. However, relying on several federal cases, he argues that constitutional protections prohibit the state’s use of issue preclusion to establish an element of a charged crime in a criminal prosecution.
The state’s response is two-fold. First, it suggests that defendant failed to preserve that argument for appeal because he did not “present any particular constitutional basis for the objection to the instruction he claims to have been erroneous.” (Emphasis in original.) Second, the state contends that Oregon courts have upheld the application of issue preclusion against defendants in criminal cases, citing State v. Gipson,
We disagree with both of the state’s arguments. We conclude that defendant sufficiently preserved his constitutional argument for appeal, and we further conclude that he is correct that the Oregon constitution prohibits the use of issue preclusion to establish an element of the charged offense in a criminal prosecution. '
We begin by addressing the state’s preservation argument. The state argues that, by failing to identify the particular constitutional basis for his argument that the court should not apply issue preclusion in this case, defendant cannot assert his constitutional arguments on appeal.
Generally, we will not review a claim of error that was not raised in the trial court. ORAP 5.45(1) (“No matter claimed as error will be considered on appeal unless the claim of error was preserved in the lower court * * *.”); State v. Wyatt,
We conclude that defendant preserved his claim of error below. Though it is true that defendant did not specifically cite to Article I, section 11, or the Sixth Amendment
“Well, I don’t think you can apply the issue * * * preclusion statute offensively against the defendant. And I don’t believe any authority has been offered by the state for that proposition.
“And certainly, when you juxtapose it to the state having the burden of proof, it doesn’t seem to me that that’s constitutionally permissible to use the issue of preclusion or collateral estoppel issue defensively [sic] and therefore, I object to that instruction.”
That objection and explanation sufficiently put the court and the state on notice that defendant objected to the proposed instruction because it directed the jury to accept that certain facts had been established beyond a reasonable doubt, in contravention of the state’s burden of proof and, therefore, his constitutional right to a jury trial, which is inextricably intertwined with the state’s burden to establish elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
We turn to the merits of defendant’s argument that his state and federal constitutional rights to a jury trial prohibit the state from using issue preclusion to establish an element of the charged crime in a criminal prosecution. We begin our analysis by reviewing the principles of issue preclusion.
The doctrine of issue preclusion operates to prevent the relitigation of issues that have been fully litigated in a prior proceeding between the same parties.
Though typically thought of as a rule in civil cases, issue preclusion applies in criminal cases as well. Gipson,
In Gipson, the defendant challenged the trial court’s sentencing determination about his criminal history score.
Thus, Gipson demonstrates that we have applied issue preclusion against a criminal defendant, but in a far different context from this case: We barred the defendant’s challenge to his criminal history score for purposes of a sentence on appeal, not to the determination of his guilt in a criminal trial. Moreover, the state’s invocation of issue preclusion in Gipson concerned a criminal history score — a determination that is made by the court, not a jury. See OAR 213-004-0013(1) (“The offender’s criminal history shall be admitted in open court by the offender or determined by a preponderance of the evidence at the sentencing hearing by the sentencing judge.”). Here, the state used issue preclusion, in a criminal prosecution, to establish an element of a crime — a determination that, absent a waiver by the defendant, is reserved for the jury.
The state also cites to Boots II, a case before the Oregon Supreme Court for a second time, arguing that the court in that case rejected the contention that issue preclusion cannot apply against a criminal defendant. The state’s reliance on Boots II, however, is also misplaced, because the majority opinion in Boots II did not address whether issue preclusion could be used against the defendant.
The defendant in that case was initially convicted of aggravated murder. In his first appeal, although the Supreme Court was satisfied that the jury had found the defendant guilty of murder, it reversed his aggravated-murder conviction based on instructional error concerning the aggravating factor. State v. Boots,
On remand, the trial court ordered a limited retrial on the aggravating factor alone, and the jury found defendant guilty of aggravated murder. Boots II,
The only mention of issue preclusion in the opinion was in the sharp dissent by Justice Unis, who posited that the majority’s holding ignored the inapplicability of issue preclusion against an accused in a criminal case.
Despite its efforts to draw authority from Gipson and Boots II, the state has failed to identify, and we were unable to find, any Oregon precedent that squarely addresses the issue in this case. Because no Oregon case has similarly considered whether the application of issue preclusion against a defendant in the guilt phase of a criminal trial violates the defendant’s right to a jury trial, we look to decisions from other courts for guidance. A survey of those cases demonstrates that the majority of courts to consider this issue have concluded that a defendant’s constitutional right to a jury trial prohibits such use of issue preclusion against an accused in a criminal prosecution.
For instance, in State v. Ingenito, 87 NJ 204,
“[i]f an essential element of a case is presented as concluded or settled, effectively withholding from the jury crucial underlying facts, the jury’s capacity to discharge fully its paramount deliberative and decisional responsibilities is irretrievably compromised.”
Id. at 213,
“collateral estoppel, applied affirmatively against a defendant in a criminal prosecution, violates the right to trial by jury in that not only does it seriously hobble the jury in its quest for truth by removing significant facts from the deliberative process, but it constitutes a strong, perhaps irresistible, gravitational pull towards a guilty verdict, which is utterly inconsistent with the requirement that a jury remain free and untrammeled in its deliberations. * * *
“These considerations lead us to conclude that the right to a jury in a criminaltrial ordinarily includes the right to have the same trier of fact decide all of the elements of the charged offense. Unless the same jury is permitted to deliberate meaningfully upon all of the issues that are crucial to a verdict of guilt or innocence of the particular crime charged, a defendant will not have secured the jury right contemplated by the Constitution. Collateral estoppel against a defendant in the context of the criminal trial is inconsistent with this proposition.”
Id. at 216-17,
The Third Circuit reached a similar conclusion in United States v. Pelullo,
“The right to a jury trial applies in every and all criminal prosecutions. We hold that such a right to a jury trial necessitates that every jury empaneled for a prosecution considers evidence of guilt afresh and without the judicial direction attending collateral estoppel. As the New Jersey Supreme Court articulated, applying collateral estoppel against the defendant in a criminal case interferes with the power of the jury to determine every element of the crime, impinging upon the accused’s right to a jury trial. Such an application is constitutionally invalid.”
Pelullo,
The cases to the contrary are few and far between. See Hernandez-Uribe v. United States, 515 F2d 20, 22 (8th Cir 1975) (holding that the trial court correctly applied issue preclusion against the criminal defendant in an unlawful reentry case when the defendant in a previous case had pleaded guilty to unlawful reentry and admitted in the plea that he was an alien); People v. Ford, 65 Cal 2d 41, 50-51,
The United States Supreme Court reversed, concluding that the constitution did not prohibit exclusion of the new alibi evidence at sentencing. Guzek,
Guzek does not speak to the issue in this case. In Guzek, the Court considered whether a prior determination that the defendant had committed the offense can limit the defendant’s presentation of evidence to the contrary in a sentencing proceeding. Here, the question is whether the state may use the determination of an issue in a prior criminal case to preclude the defendant from challenging that issue in a subsequent criminal prosecution. That difference matters because of a defendant’s robust constitutional right to a jury trial that applies when the state seeks a conviction in a criminal prosecution.
Both Article I, section 11, and the Sixth Amendment guarantee a person’s right to a trial by a jury in a criminal prosecution.
Using the doctrine of issue preclusion to conclusively establish facts necessary for a conviction in a criminal prosecution impermissibly interferes with a defendant’s constitutional right under Article I, section 11, to have a jury find every element of the charged offense beyond a reasonable doubt. An instruction to the jury that certain facts have been established beyond a reasonable doubt in a prior proceeding prevents the jury from finding all elements of the charged offense. Such an instruction violates the defendant’s constitutional right to a jury trial because it “seriously hobble [s] the jury in its quest for truth by removing significant facts from the deliberative process.” Ingenito, 87 NJ at 216,
In this case, the state charged defendant with perjury, which requires proof that the defendant made a false sworn statement about a material issue, knowing it to be false. ORS 162.065. The state alleged that defendant committed perjury when he testified in his prior trial that he was not driving at the time of the accident. Whether that testimony was false, i.e., whether defendant was, in fact, driving at the time of the accident, is an element of the offense, the existence of which defendant had a constitutional right to have determined by the jury. The state, however, was allowed, via its special instruction, to use issue preclusion to conclusively establish that element. In its closing argument, the state explained to the jury:
“[W]e don’t get to retry that now. Both sides have had full and fair opportunity to litigate whether or not the defendant was the driver. And the jury made the determination, they did their work just like you. And so we must accept the fact that the defendant is the driver when we evaluate this case.”
Because the state’s issue preclusion instruction removed an element from the jury’s consideration in violation of defendant’s right to a jury trial under Article I, section 11, of the Oregon Constitution, the trial court erred in giving the state’s instruction.
Reversed and remanded.
Notes
ORS 43.160 provides:
"That only is determined by a former judgment, decree or order which appears upon its face to have been so determined or which was actually and necessarily included therein or necessary thereto.”
Oregon courts have adopted the use of the term “issue preclusion” over its synonym “collateral estoppel.” See Drews v. EBI Companies,
Although the United States Supreme Court has acknowledged the ability of a criminal defendant to invoke issue preclusion as part of the Double Jeopardy Clause of the federal constitution, the Court has yet to directly decide whether the state can use the doctrine against a defendant in a criminal prosecution. Some courts and commentators have suggested that the Court has implied that its answer to that question would be no. See Boots II, 315 at 601 (Unis, J., dissenting) (stating that the Court’s decision in Simpson v. Florida,
Other cases reach the same result, but rely on different rationales for restricting the use of issue preclusion in criminal prosecutions. See, e.g., United States v. Smith-Baltiher,
In fact, Hernandez-Uribe relied on the reasoning of a Ninth Circuit case, Pena-Cabanillas v. United States, 394 F2d 785 (9th Cir 1968), in which the Ninth Circuit held that the government could invoke issue preclusion against a defendant to establish his alien status due to judicial efficiency and deterrence concerns: “[I]f the issue of alienage were being tried each time after a defendant makes an entry into the United States, after once having been found by judicial determination to be an alien, there would be less to deter future entries than at present.” Hernandez-Uribe, 515 F2d at 21 (internal quotation marks omitted). The Ninth Circuit, however, has since abandoned that approach and has accepted the government’s concession that issue preclusion cannot be used against a defendant in a criminal case to establish an element that it has the burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. See United States v. Arnett,
Article I, section 11, provides, in relevant part, that, “[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have the right to public trial by an impartial jury ***.” Similarly, the Sixth Amendment provides that, “[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury * * The parties do not argue that a different analysis applies for the Oregon and federal jury trial right.
