Court Opinion

ID: 9633748
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 11:58:44.784394+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:11:02.359005
License: Public Domain

*396JOSEPH, C. J.,
specially concurring.
I agree with the majority that there are only two assignments of error that merit discussion. I concur in the disposition of the preemption issue, even though I think that that body of law has been made unnecessarily murky by intellectual game playing. That is not our doing, and we can do little about it.
With respect to the issue relating to the “witness false in part” jury instruction, I concur only in the result. I do not agree that the issue is whether “the trial court abused its discretion in giving the instruction,” as the issue is stated by the majority. The issue stated by defendant is whether this was a “proper occasion” for the instruction. It probably was, under the case law as it now stands.1 However, I believe that the case law deserves reconsideration and reconstruction.
The instruction prescribed by ORS 10.095(3) is that a “witness false in one part of the testimony of the witness [sic] is to be distrusted in others.” However, the uniform instruction, which was given in this case, goes beyond the statute. In addition to stating a variation of the statutory language, it says that a “witness who lies under oath in some part of his or her testimony is likely to lie in other parts of his or her testimony.” 106 Or App at 394 n 5. (Emphasis supplied.) The emphasized language says something that the statute does not, and I think it runs afoul of the case law about the statutory instruction. In Ireland v. Mitchell, 226 Or 286, 290, 359 P2d 894 (1961), the court said that the statutory “false in part” instruction is “advisory to the jury. The jury may reject a witness’ testimony, but it need not do so.” In State v. Seeger, 4 Or App 336, 479 P2d 240 (1971), we followed Ireland and held that it was error to instruct the jury that “it’s your duty to disregard all of that witness’ testimony.” See also State v. Ketchum, 4 Or App 342, 479 P2d 255 (1971). To tell the jury that a witness is likely to have lied does not quite require it to disregard his testimony, but it certainly points the jury in the direction that the cases say that it is not obligated to go. Therefore, the uniform instruction is inconsistent with the *397statute, is erroneous and ought never be given. Unfortunately, defendant does not raise this point.
There are at least two problems with the “false in part” instruction, even when it does track the statute. First, when the defendant is one of the candidates for the “false in part” characterization, as here, the instruction may amount to an instruction on an inference that impermissibly shifts the burden of proof to the defendant. See State v. Rainey, 298 Or 459, 693 P2d 635 (1984). Although the instruction does not relate to a particular element of a charged offense, it could of course subject a defendant’s exculpatory testimony on all of the elements of the offense to an inference of falsehood and, in turn, guilt.
The second problem is that the instruction is a patent comment on the evidence. It tells the jury to view a witness’ testimony with distrust when, just as rationally, the jury could believe that the witness lied about X for reasons that have no bearing on his testimony about Y. In State v. Bonner, 241 Or 404, 408, 406 P2d 160 (1965), the court held that an instruction that singled out the defendant’s testimony as being potentially false in part “amounted to a comment on the evidence.” The court then said, however, that a “general instruction covering the matter was properly given as to all witnesses.”
The distinction escapes me. The particularized instruction was obviously prejudicial to the defendant, but the general instruction was no less a comment on the evidence. It told the jury to distrust more than one witness, on the basis of evidence that it did not need to consider to warrant distrust. Stated simply, the instruction tells a jury what evidence it should consider in weighing credibility. Moreover, the “false in part” formulation can add nothing to a neutrally worded instruction about determining credibility. It is enough to instruct the jury that it is its responsibility to decide whom to believe, if there is conflicting evidence, and to make credibility determinations in performing that responsibility.
Because the “false in part” instruction is statutory, it may be that the comment on the evidence rationale is not enough to support a holding that it should not be given. The same problem exists to a lesser degree in connection with the instruction on an inference rationale. The court based its *398decision in State v. Rainey, supra, on statutory grounds. However, there are constitutional underpinnings in its reasoning that an instruction on an inference dilutes the defendant’s right to have the state prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. In Re Winship, 397 US 358, 364, 90 S Ct 1068, 25 L Ed 2d 368 (1970).
I accept the majority’s result, even though the law is wrong.

 The “inconsistent testimony” that supposedly supports giving the instruction, 106 Or App at 395, is singularly irrelevant to any issue in the case.