Court Opinion

ID: 9747482
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 15:17:51.008637+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:24.045765
License: Public Domain

*329ROSENBLUM, P. J.,
concurring.
I agree with the majority’s conclusion that we are bound by State v. Rangel, 328 Or 294, 977 P2d 379 (1999), and I therefore concur in the reversal of defendant’s convictions. However, in my view, the facts of this case demonstrate that Rangel is too restrictive of the protection offered by the stalking statutes. To the extent that they limit speech, those statutes are aimed at preventing reasonable fear of physical violence. “Protection of individual as well as societal interests in a sense of personal security among the citizenry is a classic objective of law, and Oregon law has been no exception. Since its earliest enactments, the Oregon Legislature has sought to preserve a sense of personal security among the citizenry.” State v. Moyle, 299 Or 691, 700, 705 P2d 740 (1985).
In this case, the victim’s fear for her physical safety is eminently reasonable. Over the course of two years, defendant, a total stranger to the victim, sent her more than two dozen letters reflecting a delusional belief that they were in a romantic, and perhaps ill-fated, relationship, comparing them to Romeo and Juliet. His letters were irrational and paranoid. Defendant referred to people who were “contaminated” and were against him, and he expressed a desire not to expose the victim to “danger” or “contamination.” Defendant made references to the victim’s son in his letters and offered to be a father to him. He also attempted to meet the victim’s parents; he found out where they lived and went to their house, and he wrote letters to the victim’s father, suggesting “business proposals” to him. Defendant went to the victim’s workplace, and he left numerous messages on both her work and home telephones. He also attended public events sponsored by the victim’s employer, presumably in hopes of meeting her there.
Defendant persisted in attempting to contact the victim and to pursue a relationship with her in spite of repeated requests by the victim and others that he leave her alone and, later, her successful petition for a temporary stalking protective order. The victim feared that, if defendant’s delusion of a relationship with her were shattered, defendant would become violent. She testified that she was in fear of physical harm as a result of defendant’s letters, given their irrational *330nature. She also testified that she was afraid to go to her parents’ house or to let her son spend time there, because she was afraid defendant might appear there.
Were we writing on a blank slate, I would conclude that defendant’s convictions are sound. I do not believe that Article I, section 8, limits the legislature’s ability to protect Oregonians from fear of physical violence to the extent that the Supreme Court has held.