STATE OF OREGON, Petitioner on Review, v. JONATHAN WILLIAM RUSEN, Respondent on Review.
CC 17CR12207; CA A168201; SC S068295
Supreme Court of Oregon
Argued and submitted September 24, 2021, resubmitted January 25; decision of Court of Appeals affirmed, judgment of circuit court reversed, and case remanded to circuit court for further proceedings May 12, 2022
369 Or 677 | 509 P3d 628
FLYNN, J.
On review from the Court of Appeals. Appeal from Linn County Circuit Court, Thomas McHill, Judge. 307 Or App 759, 479 P3d 318 (2020).
Pursuant to a plea agreement, defendant pleaded no contest to four counts of second-degree sexual abuse, and the state recommended a downward dispositional sentence of probation. The parties agreed that, if the trial court revoked defendant‘s probation sentences, the trial court would have the authority to impose consecutive terms of incarceration as probation revocation sanctions. Defendant reserved the right, however, to argue that any probation revocation sanctions should be run concurrently. The trial court followed that recommendation and imposed concurrent terms of probation. The trial court later revoked defendant‘s probation based on a single violation and sentenced defendant to consecutive terms of incarceration for each of the four counts. Defendant appealed, arguing that the consecutive sentences imposed by the trial court violated OAR 213-012-0040(2)(a), which requires concurrent probation revocation sanctions where multiple terms of probation are revoked for a single violation. The state argued that defendant‘s sentence was not reviewable under
The decision of the Court of Appeals is affirmed. The judgment of the circuit court is reversed, and the case is remanded to the circuit court for further proceedings.
On review from the Court of Appeals.*
* Appeal from Linn County Circuit Court, Thomas McHill, Judge. 307 Or App 759, 479 P3d 318 (2020).
Timothy A. Sylwester, Assistant Attorney General, Salem, argued the cause and filed the briefs for petitioner on review. Also on the briefs were Ellen Rosenblum, Attorney General, and Benjamin Gutman, Solicitor General.
Anne Fujita Munsey, Deputy Defender, Salem, argued the cause and filed the brief for respondent on review. Also on the brief was Ernest G. Lannet, Chief Deputy Defender, Office of Public Defense Services.
Before Walters, Chief Justice, and Balmer, Flynn, Duncan, Nelson, Garrett, and DeHoog, Justices.**
FLYNN, J.
The decision of the Court of Appeals is affirmed. The judgment of the circuit court is reversed, and the case is remanded to the circuit court for further proceedings.
** Nakamoto, J., retired December 31, 2021, and did not participate in the decision of this case.
In the criminal case before us, defendant challenges the trial court‘s imposition of consecutive terms of incarceration upon revoking defendant‘s probation. Defendant had been serving the sentence of probation pursuant to a plea agreement and had stipulated that, if the court revoked his probation, the court could impose consecutive terms of incarceration as sanctions. Defendant had reserved the right, however, to argue that any probation revocation sanctions should be run concurrently. The first question this case presents is whether defendant is barred from obtaining appellate review by
The Court of Appeals concluded that defendant‘s challenge to the revocation sanction was reviewable and, on the merits, that the trial court lacked authority in this case to impose consecutive terms of incarceration following revocation of defendant‘s probation. We allowed the state‘s petition for review and now affirm the decision of the Court of Appeals on both questions.
On the procedural question, we conclude that the legislature did not intend
I. BACKGROUND
In 2017, defendant pleaded no contest to four counts of second-degree sexual abuse involving the same minor victim. As part of the plea agreement, the state agreed to dismiss six counts charging defendant with other sexual offenses involving the same victim. The plea agreement specified that the four counts to which defendant pleaded guilty were committed on four different dates—i.e., not “the same continuous and uninterrupted course of conduct,”
Although each of the specified grid blocks carried a presumptive sentence of incarceration that could amount to a total of 122 months if run consecutively, the parties agreed that the state would recommend that the court depart from the presumptive sentences and impose, instead, three years of supervised probation. At the sentencing hearing, defense counsel also advised the court that, “if the Court revokes probation,” defendant was “acknowledg[ing] *** that the State could ask for up to 122 months, but [] defendant would *** be free to ask that [the sentences] run concurrently.” The prosecutor confirmed the agreement, explaining that, in the event of revocation, “[i]t would be open sentencing within those parameters.” The court characterized that agreement to mean, “in the event of revocation on the downward departure[,] that the Court could impose consecutive sentences,” and the parties confirmed that characterization. The court then followed the parties’ recommendation and sentenced defendant to supervised probation on each count, with the probation terms to be served concurrently. The judgment of conviction included a term memorializing the agreement regarding revocation: “The parties agree that[,] should this probation be revoked, the convictions on each count are eligible for consecutive sentences to be imposed.”
The conditions of probation included that defendant have no contact with the victim, except as specified in writing by the court or defendant‘s probation officer. Less than a year later, however, the state alleged that defendant had violated the terms of his probation by having sexual intercourse with the same victim. Defendant pleaded guilty to a new charge of second-degree sexual abuse and conceded that his contact with the victim had violated the terms of probation. In light of defendant‘s concession, the probation revocation hearing largely focused on an appropriate sanction.
The state asked the court to impose consecutive terms of incarceration, noting the parties’ agreement that, in the event that defendant‘s probation were revoked, the court could impose consecutive sentences. Defendant emphasized, however, that he had reserved the right to argue at the time of revocation that the court should not impose consecutive sentences. He characterized the agreement as merely acknowledging that, under certain circumstances, the sentencing guidelines would authorize consecutive probation revocation sanctions, such as, for example, “if more than one term of probationary supervision is revoked for separate supervision violations.” OAR 213-012-0040(2)(b). But, because defendant‘s
The trial court concluded that the parties’ agreement that the court could impose consecutive probation revocation sanctions meant that the court did not need to consider whether the guidelines authorized consecutive sentences under the circumstances. The court then announced that it was revoking defendant‘s probation on all counts, imposing a term of incarceration for each count, and ordering the incarceration terms to be served consecutively—for a total of 106 months’ incarceration.
Defendant appealed the revocation judgment and assigned error to the trial court‘s imposition of consecutive terms of incarceration. State v. Rusen, 307 Or App 759, 760, 479 P3d 318 (2020). Although the state contended that the consecutive incarceration terms were the product of “a stipulated sentencing agreement,” and thus that
On the merits, the Court of Appeals concluded that, under OAR 213-012-0040(2)(a), the trial court erred in imposing consecutive terms of incarceration as probation revocation sanctions for a single violation of probation. In reaching that result, the court rejected the state‘s argument that the trial court had authority to impose consecutive sanctions under
The state petitioned this court for review, which we allowed. State v. Rusen, 368 Or 168, 486 P3d 795 (2021).
II. ANALYSIS
The state contends that the decision of the Court of Appeals is wrong for two alternative reasons. First, the state argues that defendant‘s consecutive incarceration sanctions are the product of “a stipulated sentencing agreement” and, thus, that
A. Bar on Reviewability
1. Framework
The authority of the Court of Appeals, and of this court, to review defendant‘s sentence is governed by
The statutory authority to review sentences, however, is subject to exceptions. Id. At issue here is the exception set out in
“The appellate court has no authority to review any part of a sentence resulting from a stipulated sentencing agreement between the state and the defendant.”
As set out above, the parties had agreed that the court “could impose consecutive sentences” in the event that it revoked defendant‘s probation, although defendant reserved the right to argue against consecutive sentences. According to the state, that agreement was a “stipulated sentencing agreement” within the meaning of
The dispute in this case, therefore, centers on the meaning of the phrase “any part of a sentence resulting from a stipulated sentencing agreement,” as used in
2. Text and context
The text on which we focus here is the product of multiple legislative enactments. Although the legislature enacted
This court first construed the reviewability bar in State v. Adams, 315 Or 359, 367, 847 P2d 397 (1993), in which we held that
Our decision in Adams did not address the standards for assessing whether a defendant has entered into “an agreement” that would trigger the bar to review—then set out in
This court considered the meaning of the new term “stipulated sentencing agreement” in Kephart, 320 Or 433, and that decision is central to resolving the parties’ dispute in this case. The defendant in Kephart entered into a plea agreement with the state under which the defendant pleaded guilty to numerous felony charges, all but one of which were governed by the sentencing guidelines. Id. at 436-38. The parties did not stipulate to grid blocks or to any other aspect of the sentences for the individual offenses, but they agreed that the parties would “seek and obtain approval by the Court to limit the defendant‘s exposure at sentencing” to a total sentence of no more than 50 years for all offenses. Id. at 437. The trial court imposed a sentence that totaled exactly 50 years’ incarceration for all “guilty” counts combined. Id. at 439. The court had reached that total by using the guidelines grid block method to determine the presumptive sentence for each offense, but the court had calculated the applicable grid blocks for each offense through a “then-controversial practice” of using some of the new convictions to increase the defendant‘s criminal history score. Id. The Court of Appeals held that the sentence was not reviewable. Id.
On review, this court first concluded in Kephart that the reviewability question was governed by the 1993 version of
For context, the court looked to another statute—
The court in Kephart also analyzed the legislative history of the bill that had proposed the amendment to replace “agreement” with “stipulated sentencing agreement” in
In the first Court of Appeals case, Johnston, the defendant was convicted of three counts of first-degree robbery pursuant to a plea agreement in which the parties had stipulated to the grid block classification that the court would use to calculate the sentence and had stipulated that the state could recommend a maximum sentence of 108 months, which was a departure from the presumptive sentence. 120 Or App at 167. The trial court imposed departure sentences that totaled exactly 108 months, and the defendant challenged the departures on appeal. Id. at 167. But the Court of Appeals held that
In Kilborn, the Court of Appeals relied on its decision in Johnston to conclude that the state could not obtain review of the trial court‘s imposition of a probationary sentence, because the plea agreement had included the state‘s promise to make “no recommendations” as to the sentence. 120 Or App at 464 (internal quotation marks omitted). The Court of Appeals recognized that the sentence of probation was not “an agreed upon sentence,” but it concluded that the sentence was unreviewable because the state‘s “silence as to” incarceration “was part of the bargain” that the parties had reached. Id. As this court reasoned in Kephart, the Court of Appeals in Kilborn had “completely ignored
And in Tanner, the Court of Appeals held that it lacked authority to review the defendant‘s claim of an illegal guidelines sentence because, “in exchange for the state‘s agreement not to indict” the defendant on uncharged felonies, the defendant had agreed to a stipulated facts trial and had agreed to admit to liability for both the charged and uncharged felonies at sentencing, for purposes of setting restitution. 121 Or App at 106. The Court of Appeals relied on its decisions in both Johnston and Kilborn to conclude that the defendant‘s “sentence ‘resulted from’ the negotiated agreement with the state and,” therefore, was not reviewable. Id. at 106-07. According to this court in Kephart, the decision in Tanner illustrated the outcome that the legislature intended to prevent with the 1993 amendment to
The 1993 legislative history also made clear, however, that the drafters of the 1993 amendment had intended to preserve the result of this court‘s decision in Adams. See Kephart, 320 Or at 443-44 (quoting and citing statements by representatives from both the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and the Oregon District Attorneys Association). As described above, the defendant in Adams had stipulated to both the grid block classification that the court should use and to the specific sentence that the court should choose from within the presumptive range for that stipulated grid block, but he nevertheless sought to challenge the grid block classification on appeal. 315 Or at 363-64. This court had determined that
Notably, both of the sentencing stipulations in Adams were stipulations described in
The same day that this court decided Kephart, it decided a related case that provides some additional insight into the boundaries of what constitutes a “stipulated sentencing agreement” that will bar review. State v. Martin, 320 Or 448, 887 P2d 782 (1994). In Martin, the defendant had pleaded no contest to first-degree sodomy and first-degree sexual abuse, pursuant to a plea agreement. Id. at 450. As part of the agreement, the parties stipulated to the crime seriousness level that should be assigned to the offenses, but they did not stipulate to the defendant‘s criminal history score. Id. At sentencing, the trial court employed the same method to adjust the defendant‘s criminal history score as had the trial court in Kephart. Id. As in Kephart, the defendant appealed to challenge the court‘s calculation of his criminal history score, and the Court of Appeals concluded that the challenge was not reviewable. Id.
Although this court in Martin ultimately concluded that the sentence was unreviewable under a different subsection of
Our constructions of the reviewability bar in Kephart and Martin, as well as subsequent decisions from the Court of Appeals, inform our understanding of what the legislature intended when it enacted the current bar to review of “part of a sentence resulting from a stipulated sentencing agreement,”
The history for the 2017 enactment indicates that the legislature intended to “restate the limits on reviewability currently set forth in [
In light of the many indications of legislative intent that we have explored above, we conclude that the scope of the bar to appellate review—now set out in
Defendant argues that, at a minimum, Kephart‘s conclusion that “stipulated sentencing agreement” means agreements “of a kind described by
Defendant‘s framing accurately reflects our conclusion and analysis in Kephart, which made clear that the bar on reviewability applies only if “certain specific stipulations, like those in
that are highlighted in Kephart—stipulations as to grid block classification, as to a sentence within the presumptive range, and as to a departure sentence—are stipulations to a specific decision that the court should make in calculating a sentence; none describes agreements that leave open—and subject to competing argument—what the court ultimately should decide. Defendant‘s framing also accurately reflects our conclusion in Kephart that the legislature intended to prevent the result of cases like Johnston, in which the Court of Appeals held that the parties’ agreement that the state could recommend a maximum total sentence precluded review of a claim that the court violated the guidelines in imposing that total sentence. Kephart, 320 Or at 446; Johnston, 120 Or App at 169.
The state disagrees with that scope. According to the state, because the parties’ agreement is an agreement “regarding” the issue of consecutive or concurrent sentences, the agreement is a “stipulated sentencing agreement,” barring review of the court‘s decision to impose consecutive terms. This
Although the state emphasizes that a sentencing judge is not bound to accept even the stipulations described in
We emphasize that reviewability is only a threshold issue. Agreements that do not meet the test that we have articulated for a “stipulated sentencing agreement” might still create obstacles to a successful appellate challenge, possibly including lack of preservation, estoppel, or invited error, but those obstacles do not trigger the absolute bar to appellate review that is imposed by
grid block classification. Second, the bar applies to preclude review only of the part of the sentence on which the parties agreed.
3. The parties’ agreement
Those conclusions make clear that the pertinent inquiry here must focus on the parties’ agreement with respect to consecutive incarceration terms—because that is the part of the sentence for which defendant seeks review. As noted earlier, the parties agreed as part of defendant‘s plea agreement that, if the court later revoked defendant‘s probation, “the court could impose consecutive sentences.” In other words, and importantly, the parties did not agree that defendant would receive consecutive sentences. Instead, as the Court of Appeals described the nature of the agreement, they agreed that “the state could argue for consecutive sentences and defendant could argue for concurrent ones,” and resolution of any dispute would be left to the trial court. Rusen, 307 Or App at 761. That lack of specificity with respect to that term of the sentence, the Court of Appeals concluded,
We agree with that conclusion. In this case, the parties agreed that the trial court could impose consecutive terms of incarceration as probation revocation sanctions. But they also agreed that defendant would be free to argue that the court should not impose consecutive terms of incarceration, leaving resolution of that issue to the court. As a result, the court‘s ruling regarding the issue of consecutive or concurrent incarceration terms is not the product of a “stipulated sentencing agreement,” and
B. The Court‘s Authority to Impose Consecutive Sentences
Having determined that defendant‘s sentence is reviewable, we now consider the parties’ arguments regarding whether the trial court properly imposed consecutive terms of incarceration upon revoking defendant‘s probation. As noted above, the trial court initially sentenced defendant to four concurrent terms of probation for separate offenses committed on different days. The trial court revoked those terms of probation based on a single probation violation and imposed consecutive terms of incarceration as probation revocation sanctions. Under those facts, the merits question is whether the trial court had authority to impose consecutive terms of incarceration or, instead, was required to impose concurrent terms of incarceration.
Probation revocation sanctions are generally governed by the sentencing guidelines rules, which were first drafted by the Criminal Justice Commission, adopted by the State Sentencing Guidelines Board, and then approved by the legislature in 1989. As a result, they have the force of statute. See State v. Langdon, 330 Or 72, 74, 999 P2d 1127 (2000) (“Although the sentencing guidelines were created as administrative rules, the legislature approved them in 1989, giving them the authority of statutory law.“). “For defendants sentenced for felonies committed on or after November 1, 1989,” a trial court imposing probation revocation sanctions is directed to the guidelines rules by
Among those rules is OAR 213-012-0040(2), which addresses both how to calculate the length of probation revocation sanctions where the defendant is serving multiple terms of probation and whether the trial court may impose those sanctions concurrently or consecutively:
“(2) When an offender is serving multiple terms of probationary supervision, the sentencing judge may impose revocation sanctions for supervision violations as provided by OAR 213-010-0002 for the violation of each separate term of probationary supervision.
“(a) If more than one term of probationary supervision is revoked for a single supervision violation, the sentencing judge shall impose the incarceration sanctions concurrently.
“(b) If more than one term of probationary supervision is revoked for separate supervision violations, the sentencing judge may impose the incarceration sanctions concurrently or consecutively.”
Here, there is no dispute that the trial court properly calculated the length of defendant‘s probation revocation sanctions. But defendant maintains that the trial court violated paragraph (2)(a) in requiring defendant to serve those sentences consecutively. According to defendant, a trial court has the discretion to impose consecutive revocation sanctions only if, as specified in paragraph (2)(b), the trial court revokes the terms of probation based on separate probation violations. Because the state does not dispute that the trial court revoked defendant‘s four terms of probation based on a single probation
The state points to a potential conflict between OAR 213-012-0040(2)(a) and a different provision that, it contends, authorized the court to impose consecutive sentences. Specifically, the state relies on OAR 213-012-0010, which provides that, “[w]hen multiple convictions have been entered against a single defendant, the sentencing judge may impose consecutive or concurrent sentences as provided by
We have previously emphasized that, when multiple statutory provisions potentially conflict, “if the court can give full effect to both statutes, it will do so.” Powers v. Quigley, 345 Or 432, 438, 198 P3d 919 (2008); see also
The state first proposes that
The state‘s reading is not required by the text of
Thus, under
The state also proposes that OAR 213-012-0010 and OAR 213-012-0040(2)(a) can be harmonized by understanding the former as governing the imposition of consecutive terms whenever the underlying offenses were separate-episode crimes, while understanding the latter to govern the imposition of multiple probation revocation sanctions in cases where the underlying offenses were single-episode crimes. Here again, however, the state‘s proposal would require us to ascribe a meaning that we conclude the legislature did not intend.
The state acknowledges that there is no textual basis for limiting OAR 213-012-0040(2)(a) to single-episode crimes and does not purport to offer one. Limiting OAR 213-012-0040(2)(a)‘s requirement for concurrent probation revocation sanctions to single-episode crimes would require inserting what has been omitted, a path that we seek to avoid in the construction of statutes. See
Nothing in Miller, however, states that all the original sentencing guidelines rules—drafted and approved in 1989—should be assumed to apply only to single-episode crimes. After all, the bill amending the standards for joinder and the bill approving the sentencing guidelines rules were adopted in the same legislative session and went through the same committees. See id. at 305 (“Discussion in the legislative history of both of those bills indicates that the relevant committee of the legislature was, while discussing HB 2250 [(the sentencing guidelines bill)], aware of HB 2251 [(the liberal joinder bill)] and of its relation to the subject of HB 2250.“). And the state in this case cites no examples from the Sentencing Guidelines Implementation Manual, like those that the court relied on in Miller, to establish that OAR 213-012-0040(2)(a) was intended to apply only to single-episode crimes. We therefore decline the state‘s invitation to extend the reasoning of Miller to this case, and we decline the state‘s invitation to harmonize the apparently conflicting provisions by treating the requirement of consecutive terms in OAR 213-012-0040(2) as either optional or entirely inapplicable.
We are persuaded, however, that the provisions can be harmonized in a different way. We conclude that OAR 213-012-0010 and OAR 213-012-0040(2) should be understood as addressing different stages of sentencing: the former rule applies to initial sentencing immediately following the convictions, while the latter rule refers to probation revocation proceedings.
That honors the text of OAR 213-012-0040(2), which expressly governs probation revocation sanctions. Subsection (2) governs how trial courts calculate the length of the sanctions. Paragraphs (2)(a) and (2)(b) govern when trial courts may impose those sanctions concurrently or consecutively. If multiple terms of probation are revoked for a single violation, then the trial court must impose the sanctions concurrently. OAR 213-012-0040(2)(a).9 But if multiple terms of probation are revoked for separate violations, then the sanctions may be imposed either concurrently or consecutively. OAR 213-012-0040(2)(b).
Conversely, OAR 213-012-0010 contains no similar express text requiring its application to probation revocation sanctions. As noted above, OAR 213-012-0010 provides that, “[w]hen multiple convictions have been entered against a single defendant, the sentencing judge may impose consecutive or concurrent sentences as provided by
convictions—while OAR 213-012-0040(2)(a) and (b) are intended to govern the imposition of concurrent or consecutive sanctions upon probation revocation.
Interpreting OAR 213-012-0010 as governing the initial sentence following conviction and OAR 213-012-0040(2) as governing probation revocation sanctions reconciles the two provisions and gives meaning to the text of both. See Lane County v. LCDC, 325 Or 569, 578, 942 P2d 278 (1997) (“[W]e do not look at one subsection of a statute in a vacuum; rather, we construe each part together with the other parts in an attempt to produce a harmonious whole.“). And it is the same interpretation that has been applied by the Court of Appeals for decades. See State v. Stokes, 133 Or App 355, 358, 891 P2d 13 (1995) (interpreting OAR 213-012-0010 as governing initial sentencing and interpreting OAR 213-012-0040 as governing probation revocation).
We therefore reject the state‘s argument that the trial court‘s imposition of consecutive probation revocation sanctions is authorized by OAR 213-012-0010. Rather, as defendant has argued, the imposition of consecutive probation revocation sanctions violates the requirement of OAR 213-012-0040(2)(a) that the court impose concurrent sanctions where multiple terms of probation have been revoked for a single violation.
The decision of the Court of Appeals is affirmed. The judgment of the circuit court is reversed, and the case is remanded to the circuit court for further proceedings.
