Opinion
A160154
05-10-2017
STATE of Oregon, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Dennis Lee HILDE, Defendant-Appellant.
Ernest G. Lannet, Chief Defender, Criminal Appellate Section, and Sarah Laidlaw, Deputy Public Defender, Office of Public Defense Services, filed the brief for appellant. Ellen F. Rosenblum, Attorney General, Benjamin Gutman, Solicitor General, and Carson L. Whitehead, Assistant Attorney General, filed the brief for respondent.
Ernest G. Lannet, Chief Defender, Criminal Appellate Section, and Sarah Laidlaw, Deputy Public Defender, Office of Public Defense Services, filed the brief for appellant.
Ellen F. Rosenblum, Attorney General, Benjamin Gutman, Solicitor General, and Carson L. Whitehead, Assistant Attorney General, filed the brief for respondent.
Before Ortega, Presiding Judge, and Egan, Judge, and Lagesen, Judge.
PER CURIAMDefendant appeals his judgment of conviction for two counts of criminal stalking, in violation of ORS 163.732. He challenges the trial court's failure to enter a judgment of acquittal following his contention during closing arguments that the evidence was insufficient to conclude that the letters he sent to his former therapist were communications that a reasonable person could conclude were a "threat of imminent and serious personal violence," as required by State v. Rangel , 328 Or. 294, 977 P.2d 379 (1999). Thus, he argued, the letters were not "repeated, unwanted contacts that reasonably alarm or coerce the victim and that also create reasonable fear for personal safety." State v. Ryan , 350 Or. 670, 679, 261 P.3d 1189 (2011) (briefly stating the crime of stalking). The state concedes that the letters, which were relied upon for both counts, were insufficient under Rangel to constitute a contact as required under ORS 163.732. We agree and accept the state's concession. Accordingly, we reverse and remand.
A defendant may preserve a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence by raising that issue during closing argument. State v. Baranovich , 241 Or.App. 280, 284, 249 P.3d 1284, rev. den., 350 Or. 571, 258 P.3d 527 (2011).
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Reversed and remanded.