Title: State v. Hess
Citation: N/A
Docket Number: S51141
State: Oregon
Issuer: Oregon Supreme Court
Date: May 10, 2007

FILED: May 10, 2007
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF OREGON
STATE OF OREGON,
Respondent on Review,
v.
JOHN DUANE HESS,
Petitioner on Review.
(CC 20-01-15408; CA A117315; SC S51141)
On review from the Court of Appeals.*
Argued and submitted November 3, 2004.
Andrew S. Chilton, Chilton, Ebbett &amp; Rohr, LLC, Portland, argued the cause and
filed the brief for petitioner on review.  
Timothy A. Sylwester, Assistant Attorney General, Salem, argued the cause and
filed the brief for respondent on review.  With him on the brief were Hardy Myers,
Attorney General, and Mary H. Williams, Solicitor General.
Before Carson, Chief Justice, and Gillette, Durham, Riggs, De Muniz, and Balmer,
Justices.**
DURHAM, J.
The decision of the Court of Appeals is reversed.  The order of the trial court is
affirmed, and the case is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings.
*Appeal from Lane County Circuit Court, Lyle C. Velure, Judge. 189 Or App 325, 75 P3d 469 (2004).
**Riggs, J., retired September 30, 2006, and did not participate in the decision of
this case.  Carson, J., Chief Justice when this case was argued, retired December 31,
2006, and did not participate in the decision of this case.  De Muniz, J., became Chief
Justice on January 1, 2006.  Kistler, Walters, and Linder, JJ., did not participate in the
consideration or decision of this case.
DURHAM, J.
In this criminal case, the state appeals from an order of the trial court that
prohibited the state from disclosing to the jury during trial the fact that defendant had
made a judicial admission that he had previous convictions for public indecency --
convictions that could elevate the public indecency charges at issue here to felonies.  The
Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's order.  State v. Hess, 189 Or App 325, 75 P3d
469 (2003).  For the reasons set out below, we reverse the Court of Appeals and affirm
the trial court.
A grand jury indicted defendant for three counts of public indecency in
violation of former ORS 163.465 (2003), (1) which provides:
"(1) A person commits the crime of public indecency if while in, or
in view of, a public place the person performs:
"(a) An act of sexual intercourse;
"(b) An act of deviate sexual intercourse; or
"(c) An act of exposing the genitals of the person with the intent of
arousing the sexual desire of the person or another person.
"(2) (a) Public indecency is a Class A misdemeanor.
"(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection, public
indecency is a Class C felony if the person has a prior conviction for public
indecency or a crime described in ORS 163.355 to 163.445."
In addition to the factual elements of public indecency described in ORS 163.465(1), each
count of the indictment recited that defendant had been "previously convicted of the
crime of public indecency in Multnomah County District Court * * *" and, pursuant to
ORS 163.465(2)(b), described each charged crime as a "Class C Felony."
Prior to trial, defendant informed the court that he would stipulate to his
prior convictions for public indecency.  He also requested that the court not disclose his
stipulation to the jury and that the court consider his prior convictions only at sentencing
if the jury convicted him of public indecency in this case.
We pause here to comment on the use of the legal term "stipulation" in this
context by the parties and the courts below.  ORS 163.465 does not place a label on a
defendant's admission of a prior conviction.  That statute, in fact, makes no reference at
all to such an admission by a defendant.  The legislature, in other statutory contexts, has
used the term "stipulation" to describe a criminal defendant's acknowledgment of a prior
conviction, whether or not the state also agrees, and the term "judicial admission" to
describe the legal consequence of the defendant's "stipulation" to a prior conviction. See,
e.g., ORS 163.103(1) (aggravated murder); ORS 813.326(1)(a) (felony driving while
under the influence of intoxicants), each quoted below.
The dictionary casts some doubt on the accuracy of the legislature's use of
the term "stipulation" in the aggravated murder and felony driving while under the
influence of intoxicants statutes, at least where the state does not agree to the proposition. 
A "stipulation" is a covenant to which the parties to litigation agree.  See Black's Law
Dictionary 1455 (8th ed 2004), which defines "stipulation" as:
"1.  A material condition or requirement in an agreement; esp., a factual
representation that is incorporated into a contract as a term * * *.  2.  A
voluntary agreement between opposing parties concerning some relevant
point; esp., an agreement relating to a proceeding, made by the attorneys
representing adverse parties to the proceeding ."
If a party does not voluntarily agree to a proposed stipulation on a relevant point, there is
no "stipulation" on that point. 
A defendant's acknowledgment of a prior conviction,  in reality, is a judicial
admission, which is "[a] formal waiver of proof that relieves an opposing party from
having to prove the admitted fact and bars the party who made the admission from
disputing it." Black's Law Dictionary at 51.  Although the state did not stand in the way of
defendant's judicial admission here, and referred to defendant's acknowledgment as a
"stipulation" that it felt obliged under the circumstances to accept, we recognize that the
state did not make a true stipulation to defendant's prior convictions.  Instead, defendant
made a judicial admission to his prior convictions, an act that does not require the state's
agreement. (2)
In response to defendant's proposed stipulation, the state filed a motion in
limine requesting that the court read defendant's stipulation on the record in the presence
of the jury and include the stipulation in the court's jury instructions.  The state described
the matter of defendant's prior convictions as an "element of the offense" that the state
must prove to the jury beyond a reasonable doubt.
The trial court denied the state's motion in limine, accepted defendant's
judicial admission to his prior convictions, and prohibited the state from introducing
evidence or otherwise disclosing to the jury the judicial admission that defendant had
made.  The trial court explained its ruling as follows:
"THE COURT: I think that since it is an admission and the only
purpose of this admission is to turn it from misdemeanor into felony and
really, if the defendant is convicted, to determine the extent of his
punishment, that the only purpose that the State could have here, once it is
admitted, there cannot be any probative value, and the only purpose that the
State could be offering this would be to prejudice the defendant in the eyes
of the jury in the light of the fact that he has an old conviction.
"When elements of the crime are admitted there is no necessity to
prove them to the jury particularly in light of the fact that it is merely
something the Court would take into account in the sentencing of the
defendant, which I think * * * has no probative value whatsoever but if I
am doing a balance test which I am required to do, then given the fact it has
no probative value whatsoever to the jury, certainly the prejudicial effect far
outweighs any probative value and I think the State merely is attempting to
prejudice this jury and I think it would be improper for the Court to allow
such evidence to come before the jury when it has been admitted.
"Therefore, I'm denying the motion in limine regarding the defense
stipulation and I will not submit nor will I allow any evidence of the prior
conviction to the jury but it would be considered by the trial court only for
purpose of the sentencing in this matter in determination if the defendant is
found guilty of a felony."
The state notified the court of its intent to appeal that ruling.  The trial court postponed
the trial.
The state appealed, arguing that, notwithstanding defendant's stipulation,
the state had an obligation to present proof on the element of defendant's prior conviction
to the jury and, as a consequence, the trial court had erred in prohibiting the presentation
of that evidence to the jury.  The Court of Appeals agreed with the state and reversed in a
per curiam decision.  Hess, 189 Or App at 326.  In so holding, the court relied on the
reasoning in a companion case, State v. Hambrick, 189 Or App 310, 75 P3d 462 (2003),
which it decided that same day.  Hambrick held that, in a prosecution for felony assault in
the fourth degree under ORS 163.160(3), (3) the trial court erred in suppressing
evidence of the defendant's prior conviction, notwithstanding the defendant's judicial
admission to it.  According to the court in Hambrick, the trial court had no authority to
compel the state to accept the defendant's stipulation or to remove the issue of the prior
conviction from the jury.  189 Or App at 313.  Hambrick also relied on State v. Garrett,
187 Or App 201, 205, 66 P3d 554 (2003), for the view that evidence of the prior
conviction was necessary to prove an element of the felony charge and, for that reason,
the probative value of the conviction outweighed any prejudice to defendant in
introducing evidence of the prior conviction.  This court granted review to evaluate those
premises for the Court of Appeals decision in this case.
Defendant first argues that the state lacks statutory authority to appeal the
trial court's order. (4)  He relies on ORS 138.060, which provides, in part:
"(1) The state may take an appeal from the circuit court to the Court
of Appeals from:
"(a) An order made prior to trial dismissing or setting aside the
accusatory instrument;
"(b) An order arresting the judgment;
"(c) An order made prior to trial suppressing evidence;
"(d) An order made prior to trial for the return or restoration of things seized;
"(e) A judgment of conviction based on the sentence as provided in ORS 138.222;
"(f) An order in a probation revocation hearing finding that a
defendant who was sentenced to probation under ORS 137.712 has not
violated a condition of probation by committing a new crime;
"(g) An order made after a guilty finding dismissing or setting aside
the accusatory instrument;
"(h) An order granting a new trial; or
"(i) An order dismissing an accusatory instrument under ORS 136.130."
Defendant contends that the only arguable source of authority for the present appeal is
ORS 138.060(1)(c), which authorizes an appeal from a trial court order suppressing
evidence.  Defendant asserts, however, that the issue on appeal is not the suppression of
evidence, such as certified copies of defendant's judgments of conviction, used to prove
an element of an offense.  Rather, he contends that the issue is the removal of the fact of
defendant's past convictions from the jury's consideration altogether.  That, defendant
insists, is more akin to the denial of a jury instruction, which is not appealable under ORS
138.060 or any other statute.
Defendant's argument is not persuasive.  It does not matter, for the purposes
of ORS 138.060(1)(c), if a trial court order suppresses the underlying evidence proving a
fact, or if, as in this case, the court instead removes the fact itself from the jury's
consideration and thereby deprives the proffered evidence of any probative value.  The
result is the same:  The trial court has excluded evidence that the state desires to introduce
at trial.  That is all that ORS 138.060(1)(c) requires.  As defendant acknowledges in his
brief to this court,
"An order 'suppressing evidence' is construed broadly to include any
order that excludes evidence.  It is not simply an order granting a pre-trial
motion to suppress.  State v. Koennecke, 274 Or 169, 172-73, 545 P2d 127
(1976)." (5)
We conclude that, because the court's pretrial order in this case had the effect of
excluding evidence from the jury's consideration, the state had authority to appeal the
order under ORS 138.060(1)(c).
Defendant also argues that the state is not entitled to relief on appeal
because it cannot demonstrate that the trial court's order will cause prejudice affecting a
substantial right enjoyed by the state.  See OEC 103(1). (6)  He contends that the state's
rights are fully protected for three reasons.  First, the trial court's order does not impair the
state's ability to obtain a conviction for felony public indecency because, if the jury finds
defendant guilty of the underlying misdemeanor charges of public indecency, the court
will use his prior convictions at sentencing, consistently with the state's position, to
elevate his sentences to felonies.  Second, following trial, defendant will not be able to
attack the validity of a guilty verdict rendered by the jury, because the court would
dismiss any challenge as invited error, given that defendant offered to stipulate to his
prior convictions.  Finally, defendant cannot challenge his conviction collaterally, because
stipulating to the prior conviction to keep it away from the jury is a legitimate tactical
decision.
The legislature has conferred upon the state a statutory right to trial by jury
in criminal cases. (7)  ORS 136.001(1) provides:
"The defendant and the state in all criminal prosecutions have the right to
public trial by an impartial jury."
ORS 136.001(2) provides:
"Both the defendant and the state may elect to waive trial by jury and
consent to a trial by the judge of the court alone, provided that the election
of the defendant is in writing and with the consent of the trial judge."
Here, defendant has not elected to waive a trial by jury.  Therefore, the state's statutory
right to a jury trial remains in effect.  
The issue presented here is whether the trial court's order violated that right
or the court otherwise lacked authority to remove from the jury the question whether
defendant has previous convictions for public indecency.  The state contends that Oregon
law affirmatively deprives trial courts of the authority to preclude the state from proving
defendant's prior convictions to the jury.  This court has not addressed the question
previously.  However, if the state's argument is correct, the trial court's ruling would
affect the state's asserted substantial right to present to the jury defendant's judicial
admission of his prior convictions.  As a consequence, the trial court ruling does affect a
"substantial right" of the state under OEC 103(1).
We turn next to the merits and consider whether, in a prosecution for felony
public indecency, a trial court, after a defendant has made a judicial admission to his prior
convictions, may prevent the state from introducing evidence of that admission to the
jury.  The state does not contest the adequacy of defendant's judicial admission to prove
the "prior conviction" requirement in ORS 163.465(2)(b) and the state does not seek to
introduce the facts of the prior crimes or any other evidence regarding the prior
conviction requirement.  Rather, the state seeks only the opportunity to disclose the
judicial admission to the jury at trial.  In addressing the question presented, we take into
account all relevant sources that bear on the court's authority, including the text and
context of the pertinent statutes and any case law that construes those statutes.
The text of ORS 163.465 does not address the question of the trial court's
authority to suppress evidence of defendant's judicial admission or other evidence of his
prior convictions.  In that respect, the public indecency statute resembles certain statutes
that elevate the classification of an offense and, thus, the resulting punishment, if the
defendant committed the underlying offense following a prior conviction.  Examples
include ORS 163.160(3) (felony assault in the fourth degree), to which we referred earlier
in this opinion, and ORS 811.182 (misdemeanor and felony driving while suspended or
revoked for committing certain listed crimes). (8)  Other statutes specifically provide
that a prior felony conviction is a factual predicate for a separate offense.  See, e.g., ORS
166.270(1) (felon in possession of a firearm); (9) and ORS 166.270(2) (felon in
possession of a restricted weapon). (10)  But those statutes also are silent as to how the
trial court may address the proof of a prior conviction.
Other criminal statutes, by contrast, expressly require both pleading and
proof of a prior conviction and specify the procedure that the trial court must follow in
accepting the defendant's "stipulation" to a prior conviction.  See ORS 163.103(1)
(discussing pleading, proof, and stipulation matters in prosecution for aggravated murder
under ORS 163.095(1)(c) (murder committed after previous conviction for murder or
manslaughter in the first degree)); (11) ORS 813.326(1) (felony driving while under the
influence of intoxicants). (12)  We note that the stipulation procedure that the trial court
followed here was virtually identical to the procedure that the legislature has provided for
prosecutions for aggravated murder under ORS 163.103(1) and for felony driving while
under the influence of intoxicants under ORS 813.326(1).
The state asserts that, under ORS 163.465(2)(b) and, presumably, the other
statutes cited above that require proof of a prior conviction, the fact of a prior conviction
is an element of each crime that the state must prove to the jury.  Certainly that argument
has some weight where the legislature expressly has required both pleading and proof of
prior conviction, as in ORS 163.095(1) (aggravated murder) and ORS 813.326(1) (felony
driving while under the influence of intoxicants).  But, even with regard to the latter
statutes, the question is not free from doubt, particularly in cases where the defendant
"stipulates" to a prior conviction and, by statute, neither the parties nor the court may
disclose the prior conviction to the jury.  See ORS 163.095(1)(c) and ORS 813.326(1)(c)
(each prohibiting disclosure of prior conviction to jury).  In that circumstance, the fact of
the prior conviction instead may serve only as a factual predicate for classification of the
crime and, by virtue of that classification, for sentencing.  That is, the prior conviction
may be a sentencing factor rather than an element of the crime. (13)
Resolving the question whether a prior conviction is a crime element or a
sentencing factor under ORS 163.465(2)(b) is not a simple matter.  As this court noted in
State v. Sawatzky, 339 Or 689, 125 P3d 722 (2005), the United States Supreme Court has
recognized, but found analytically unhelpful, the "constitutionally novel and elusive
distinction between 'elements' and 'sentencing factors.'"  Id. at 695 (citing Apprendi v.
New Jersey, 530 US 466, 494, 120 S Ct 2348, 147 L Ed 2d 435 (2000)).  Moreover, any
conclusion on the question may affect this court's resolution of important but unanswered
issues of state and federal constitutional law regarding required procedures for the
conviction and sentencing of criminal offenders under "prior conviction" statutes.  See
State v. Wedge, 293 Or 598, 605-06, 623 P2d 630 (1982) (suggesting in dictum that the
right to jury trial under Article I, section 11, of the Oregon Constitution, applies to the
"facts which constitute the crime," but not "those which characterize the defendant * * *
[;]" facts which "go to the criminal acts for which a defendant is to be punished" must go
to the jury "unless admitted or waived");  State v. Quinn, 290 Or 383, 406, 623 P2d 630 
(1981) (suggesting in dictum that, under Article I, section 11, court without jury may find
facts regarding "'the kind and character of a man upon whom sentence is to be imposed,'"
quoting State v. Hicks, 213 Or 619, 630, 325 P2d 794 (1958)).  Cf. Apprendi, 530 US at
490 ("Other than the fact of a prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a
crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury, and proved
beyond a reasonable doubt.").
We conclude, however, that, for the reasons express below, we can resolve
this case without deciding whether the prior conviction requirement in ORS
163.465(2)(b) is a crime "element" that the state must prove to the jury; we will assume
arguendo that it is a crime element.  As the following discussion explains, we must
accord to defendant's judicial admission to that crime element its ordinary legal effect. 
We then must consider whether, consistently with ORS 163.465(2)(b), the trial court
correctly declined to disclose to the jury defendant's judicially admitted prior convictions. 
We turn now to those matters.
ORS 163.465(2)(b), as noted, is silent regarding matters of trial procedure
in the context of a defendant's judicial admission to a prior conviction.  By contrast, two
statutes that we referred to above, ORS 163.103(1) and ORS 813.326(1)(a), provide
explicit procedural instructions to a trial court regarding similar judicial admissions by a
defendant in other criminal trials.  We ordinarily infer from textual differences in statutes
a legislative intent to achieve different results.
We apply that principle here, but doing so does not dictate a particular
outcome.  That is because, in this case, in determining the "different result" that the
legislature sought to achieve in ORS 163.465(2)(b), we must give effect to the fact that
that statute is silent about the subject of judicial admissions.  Depending on the context,
the legislature's silence can signify a variety of policy choices regarding the use of
judicial admissions during trial.  Those choices may range from a specific alternative set
of procedures to reliance on the broad authority of trial courts to resolve procedural
matters that arise during trial in the interest of justice.  Nothing in the present context
suggests that the legislature intended by its silence to require the use of some specific
alternative set of procedures in this setting.  Moreover, no contextual clue suggests that
the legislature intended to restrict trial court authority in some particular way.  We are
reluctant to infer from the legislature's silence an intent to deprive the court of its
traditional authority to address procedural matters during trial, including matters
involving a judicial admission.  We are persuaded that the legislature's silence here
signifies an intent to allow the familiar rules of evidence, rather than legislatively
specified procedural rules, to govern the admissibility of a judicial admission of a prior
conviction in a prosecution under ORS 163.465(2)(b).
In the present case, defendant's judicial admission to his prior convictions
established completely the existence of the prior convictions as a factual and legal matter
and relieved the state of its burden to prove their existence during trial.  The judicial
admission ensured that the court would treat defendant's crimes as Class C felonies, in
accordance with ORS 163.465(2)(b), if the jury found him guilty of public indecency as
charged in the indictment.  That consequence fully accomplished the legislature's
objective in adopting ORS 163.465(2)(b).
The state's right to prove its case in the manner that it chooses is subject to
the rules of evidence that govern the prosecution of every criminal case.  State v. Leland,
190 Or 598, 630, 227 P2d 785 (1951).  The rules of evidence govern the presentation of
all factual matters to the jury during a criminal trial, including facts concerning
defendant's prior convictions in this case.  We turn briefly to those rules of evidence that
relate to our present discussion.
OEC 401 provides:
"Relevant evidence" means evidence having any tendency to make
the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the
action more probable or less probable than it would be without the
evidence."
OEC 402 provides:
"All relevant evidence is admissible, except as otherwise provided by
the Oregon Evidence Code, by the Constitutions of the United States and
Oregon, or by Oregon statutory and decisional law.  Evidence which is not
relevant is not admissible."
Applying those rules of evidence here, several conclusions are clear.  After defendant
made his judicial admission, the state's right to present the fact of defendant's admission
to the jury turned on whether it was "relevant evidence" under OEC 402.  The state's
request to inform the jury about the admission was problematic under that rule.
OEC 402 bars the admission of evidence that is not "relevant evidence." 
The state's only arguable justification for offering evidence of defendant's judicial
admission during trial is that the disclosure would make the existence of the fact of the
prior convictions "more probable * * * than it would be without the evidence."  OEC 401. 
But the trial court concluded that, after defendant made his judicial admission, a
disclosure of evidence of the judicial admission would have "no probative value
whatsoever * * *."  The assumption underlying that conclusion is that the judicial
admission unconditionally resolved the prior convictions issue in the state's favor and left
only a sentencing issue for the court under ORS 163.465(2)(b) if the jury returned a
verdict of guilty.
The trial court's conclusion was correct.  As noted, the effect of the judicial
admission was to establish the fact of the prior convictions conclusively and to relieve the
state of its burden to prove the existence of the prior convictions.  The judicial admission
ensured that the court would effectuate the consequence of proof of a prior conviction, as
described in ORS 163.465(2)(b), by sentencing defendant as a felon if the jury convicted
him.  The state was not entitled to more.
This court's reasoning in State v. Zimmerlee, 261 Or 49, 492 P2d 795
(1972), supports the trial court's ruling here.  In Zimmerlee, the state charged the
defendant with armed robbery with a gun.  The state sought to introduce evidence at trial
that, after the alleged robbery, the defendant had used a similar gun in a separate
encounter with another victim.  The defendant objected and offered to stipulate that he
had possessed the gun during the later incident.  The state refused to stipulate.  The trial
court allowed the state to offer, and the trial court admitted, evidence of the defendant's
possession of the gun during the later incident, because it showed the existence of a
common scheme or plan embracing each crime.  Id. at 51-52.
On review, this court reversed.  This court disagreed that the two acts had a
common signature that would have allowed the trial court to admit evidence of the later
crime to prove that the defendant had committed the earlier robbery.  The court
acknowledged that evidence that the defendant had possessed a gun during the later
encounter was relevant to show that the defendant had possessed a gun during the
robbery.  However, any justification for introducing that evidence evaporated, according
to this court, when the defendant offered to stipulate to possessing the gun during the
second encounter.  This court stated:
"Although we have held that the state may prove its case 'to the hilt,' that
privilege is not open to the state in circumstances where its exercise would
unnecessarily expose a defendant to prejudice.  Once defendant offered to
stipulate that he had possession of the gun subsequent to the alleged
robbery, the only purpose that would be served by permitting the state to
prove the subsequent crime would be to show that because defendant had
committed another crime he was a bad man and therefore probably
committed the crime for which he was charged.  In these circumstances the
prejudicial effect of the evidence would outweigh its probative value and it
is not admissible."
Id. at 54 (footnotes omitted).
We recognize that Zimmerlee principally addressed whether, in light of the
defendant's judicial admission, the prejudicial effect of the state's evidence of the
defendant's possession of a gun outweighed its probative value.  This case, by contrast,
does not call for a determination whether the danger of unfair prejudice requires
exclusion of prosecution evidence that has some probative value.  The issue here is
whether a judicial admission of prior convictions can nullify the state's justification under
the rules of evidence for disclosing the judicial admission to the jury.  We do not think
that the different procedural posture of the present case makes the principle involved any
less applicable.
Fairly read, Zimmerlee indicates that, when a defendant makes a judicial
admission to a material fact, such as involvement in another crime, the state must
demonstrate that the rules of evidence support the admission of evidence subsequently
offered to prove the judicially admitted fact.  We conclude, as in Zimmerlee, and for the
reasons discussed above, that the state did not make the that demonstration here.  As a
result, the trial court correctly denied the state's motion in limine.
The decision of the Court of Appeals is reversed.  The order of the trial
court is affirmed, and the case is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings.
1. In 2005, the legislature amended ORS 163.465(2)(b) to state:
"public indecency is a Class C felony if the person has a prior conviction for
public indecency or a crime described in ORS 163.355 to 163.445 or for a
crime in another jurisdiction that, if committed in this state, would
constitute public indecency or a crime described in ORS 163.355 to
163.455."
Or Laws 2005, ch 434, § 1.  That amendment does not affect our decision in this case, and
future references to the statute in the text of the opinion therefore refer to the current
version.
2. The foregoing definitional clarification notwithstanding, however, we will refer to
a defendant's "stipulation" to a prior conviction when we analyze ORS 163.103(1) and
ORS 813.326(1)(a) in deference to the legislature's choice of terminology in those
statutes.  In addition, we will use the term "stipulation" in this opinion from time to time
in referring to defendant's judicial admission, because that is the term that the parties and
the court below used in discussing the issue presented here.
3. ORS 163.160(3) provides:
"Notwithstanding subsection (2) of this section, assault in the fourth
degree is a Class C felony if the person commits the crime of assault in the
fourth degree and:
"(a) The person has previously been convicted of assaulting the same
victim;
"(b) The person has previously been convicted at least three times
under this section or under equivalent laws of another jurisdiction and all of
the assaults involved domestic violence, as defined in ORS 135.230; or
"(c) The assault is committed in the immediate presence of, or is
witnessed by, the person's or the victim's minor child or stepchild or a minor
child residing within the household of the person or victim."
4. The state points out that defendant raises this issue for the first time before this
court.  That is immaterial.  A party  may raise the issue of lack of subject matter
jurisdiction at any time.  Waddill v. Anchor Hocking, Inc., 330 Or 376, 384, 8 P3d 200
(2000).
5. Koennecke addressed former ORS 138.060(3) (1975), which is analogous to ORS
138.060(1)(c).  In that case, this court stated that, "'for purposes of determining whether
the state may appeal an order "'suppressing" * * * evidence, the significant factor is
whether the order has been made as the result of some pretrial action by the parties.'" 
Koennecke, 274 Or at 172, (quoting State v. Hoare, 20 Or App 439, 444, 532 P2d 240
(1975) (emphasis in original)); see also State v. Hammerton/Walmsley, 320 Or 454, 456 n
1, 886 P2d 1012 (1994) (in prosecutions for felony driving while revoked, state properly
appealed from orders entered prior to trial that excluded revocation orders).
6. OEC 103(1) provides:
"Evidential error is not presumed to be prejudicial.  Error may not be
predicated upon a ruling which admits or excludes evidence unless a
substantial right of the party is affected * * *."
7. That right is not absolute, however.  In State v. Baker, 328 Or 355, 976 P2d 1132
(1999), this court held that the state cannot insist on a trial by jury if a defendant chooses
to waive a jury trial, because Article I, section 11, of the Oregon Constitution grants the
defendant in noncapital cases both the right to a jury trial and the right to waive a jury
trial with the consent of the trial judge, if the election is in writing.  Article I, section 11
of the Oregon Constitution provides, in part:
"In all criminal prosecutions, * * * any accused person, in other than
capital cases, and with the consent of the trial judge, may elect to waive trial
by jury and consent to be tried by the judge of the court alone, such election
to be in writing[.]"
8. ORS 811.182 provides, in part:
"(1) A person commits the offense of criminal driving while
suspended or revoked if the person violates ORS 811.175 and the
suspension or revocation is one described in this section, or if the hardship
or probationary permit violated is based upon a suspension or revocation
described in subsection (3) or (4) of this section.
"* * * * *
"(3) The crime is a Class B felony if the suspension or revocation
resulted from any degree of murder, manslaughter, criminally negligent
homicide or assault resulting from the operation of a motor vehicle or if the
revocation resulted from a conviction for felony driving while under the
influence of intoxicants.
"(4) The crime is a Class A misdemeanor if the suspension or
revocation is any of the following: [listing grounds for suspension or
revocation, including commission of certain crimes]."
9. ORS 166.270(1) provides:
"Any person who has been convicted of a felony under the law of
this state or any other state, or who has been convicted of a felony under the
laws of the Government of the United States, who owns or has in the
person's possession or under the person's custody or control any firearm
commits the crime of felon in possession of a firearm."
10. ORS 166.270(2) provides:
"Any person who has been convicted of a felony under the law of
this state or any other state, or who has been convicted of a felony under the
laws of the Government of the United States, who owns or has in the
person's possession or under the person's custody or control any instrument
or weapon having a blade that projects or swings into position by force of a
spring or by centrifugal force or any blackjack, slungshot, sandclub,
sandbag, sap glove or metal knuckles, or who carries a dirk, dagger or
stiletto, commits the crime of felon in possession of a restricted weapon."
11. ORS 163.103(1) provides:
"In a prosecution for aggravated murder under ORS 163.095(1)(c),
the state shall plead the previous conviction, and shall prove the previous
conviction unless the defendant stipulates to that fact prior to trial.  If the
defendant so stipulates and the trial is by jury:
"(a) The court shall accept the stipulation regardless of whether or
not the state agrees to it;
"(b) The defendant's stipulation to the previous conviction
constitutes a judicial admission to that element of the accusatory instrument. 
The stipulation shall be made a part of the record of the case, but shall not
be offered or received in the presence of the jury;
"(c) For the purpose of establishing the prior conviction solely as an
element of the crime under ORS 163.095(1)(c), neither the court nor the
state shall reveal to the jury the previous conviction, but the previous
conviction is established in the record by the defendant's stipulation, and;
"(d) The court shall not submit the accusatory instrument or evidence
of the previous conviction to the jury."
12. "ORS 813.326(1) provides:
"In a prosecution for felony driving while under the influence of
intoxicants under ORS 813.010, the state shall plead the prior convictions
and shall prove the prior convictions unless the defendant stipulates to that
fact prior to trial.  If the defendant so stipulates and the trial is by jury:
"(a) The court shall accept the stipulation regardless of whether or
not the state agrees to it;
"(b) The defendant's stipulation to the prior convictions constitutes a
judicial admission to that element of the accusatory instrument.  The
stipulation shall be made a part of the record of the case, but shall not be
offered or received in the presence of the jury;
"(c) For the purpose of establishing the prior convictions solely as an
element of the crime under ORS 813.010, neither the court nor the state
shall reveal to the jury the prior conviction, but the prior convictions are
established in the record by the defendant's stipulation, and;
"(d) The court shall not submit the accusatory instrument or evidence
of the prior convictions to the jury."
13. In 2005, the legislature enacted specific procedures for the pleading and
proof of an "enhancement fact," which the legislature defined as "a fact that is
constitutionally required to be found by a jury in order to increase the sentence that may
be imposed upon conviction of a crime."  Or Laws 2005, ch 463, § 1 (2).  Those statutory
procedures appear in the text preceding ORS 136.001.  Because the legislature adopted
those procedures effective July 7, 2005, after the occurrence of the crimes alleged in the
indictment here, they do not affect our disposition in this case.