State v. Branch

Where a defendant on trial for initiating a false police report moves for a judgment of acquittal, there must be evidence that the defendant did more than lie in response to police questioning during the course of a police investigation.

Defendant appealed a conviction for initiating a false report, arguing the trial court denied his motion for judgment of acquittal in error. Under State v. McCrorey, 216 Or. App. 301, 172 P.3d 271 (2007), and State v. Strouse, 276 Or. App. 392, 366 P.3d 1185 (2016), “[E]vidence that a person has lied in response to police questioning in the course of an investigation is not enough to convict the person of initiating a false report.” State v. McCrorey, 216 Or. App. 301, 306, 172 P.3d 271 (2007); see also State v. Strouse, 276 Or. App. 392, 404, 366 P.3d 1185 (2016). The Court of Appeals held that the record indicated that Defendant did more than give false statements to the police and therefore that the trial court did not err in denying Defendant’s motion for a judgment of acquittal. Affirmed.