Court Opinion

ID: 9785566
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 22:13:13.006148+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:36:30.026042
License: Public Domain

ROSENBLUM, J.,
dissenting.
In Whipple v. Hill, 202 Or App 34, 37-38, 38 n 1, 120 P3d 1251, rev den, 339 Or 701 (2005), we noted that ORS 138.640 does not require express findings, and we explained that a clear statement of the grounds for determination could consist of a general statement that the petitioner “did not carry his burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence as to his or her allegation.” The majority now holds that such a statement does not satisfy the statute. I disagree and therefore respectfully dissent.
Even ignoring the fact that the judgment in this case is consistent with what we said in Whipple, the “grounds on which the cause was determined” are clear. There is no ambiguity in the post-conviction court’s statement “failure of proof.” It is clear to me that the court was saying that petitioner failed to prove that his criminal trial counsel provided inadequate assistance. Had the court determined that counsel’s performance was deficient, I believe it would have said so, even if it ultimately concluded that petitioner suffered no prejudice. For that reason, I believe that the judgment satisfied the requirements of ORS 138.640. The court was not required to say anything more.
It is true that, in some post-conviction cases, we have remanded for further findings or conclusions where the specific reasons for the post-conviction court’s ruling were not clear. See Whipple, 202 Or App at 38 n 2 (citing such cases). However, in those cases, our decision was not based on a failure to comply with ORS 138.640. Rather, the remand was driven by the practical needs of meaningful appellate review of a substantive issue. See, e.g., Haynes v. Keeney, 85 Or App 473, 476, 737 P2d 149 (1987) (remanding for explanation of the court’s conclusion that the petitioner did not meet his burden of proof, because, if the conclusion was based on the petitioner’s failure to introduce a transcript of the criminal *669proceedings into evidence, the conclusion was erroneous, but if the court instead determined that the petitioner’s testimony about the proceedings was not credible, the conclusion was proper); cf. McCarthy v. Oregon Freeze Dry, Inc., 327 Or 185, 187, 957 P2d 1200 (1998) (stating that the requirement of explanatory findings in attorney fee awards “stems not from a statute or rule of appellate procedure but from prudential and practical considerations that undergird the interests of the parties and the court in meaningful appellate review”).
In my view, this is not such a case. As noted above, it is clear to me that the post-conviction court determined that petitioner failed to prove that his counsel’s performance was deficient. The record supports that determination.1 No additional findings or conclusions are necessary to afford meaningful appellate review.
By erroneously inserting what has heretofore been a strictly prudential requirement into the statute, the majority opens the door to a new class of appeals and remands. Until now, the absence of a specific explanation of the basis for the trial court’s ruling has necessitated a remand only when it affected our ability to review substantive issues. Now, because the majority concludes that the absence of a specific explanation violates ORS 138.640, the failure to make such an explanation is itself a reversible error. Consequently, we will be required to remand even when doing so will have absolutely no impact on our ability to review substantive issues. Indeed, the majority’s holding creates a basis for appeal even when there are no substantive issues.
In short, I do not believe that either ORS 138.640 or prudential considerations require a remand in this case. Thus, I would not reverse this case without reaching petitioner’s third assignment of error. In it, petitioner contends that the post-conviction court erred in failing to rule on a relevance objection that he made to a paragraph in an affidavit *670submitted by his criminal trial counsel. The court stated that it would take the objection under advisement and possibly disallow all or part of the paragraph; however, it never indicated how or whether it eventually ruled.
Evidentiary error is not presumed to be prejudicial. OEC 103. Assuming, without deciding, that the court admitted the objected-to paragraph and that its admission was erroneous, petitioner has not shown that the error was prejudicial.
Because we can resolve this appeal without remanding for further explanation by the post-conviction court, I respectfully dissent.

 In other words, in addition to rejecting petitioner’s fourth assignment of error, in which he challenges the adequacy of the post-conviction court’s statement of the grounds on which the cause was determined, I would reject his first and second assignments of error, in which he challenges the court’s substantive rulings on his claims for relief.