Brian Harris

Oregon Supreme Court (4 summaries)

In re Goff

A decision of the Oregon State Bar Disciplinary Panel will be upheld if the record clearly and convincingly demonstrates that a violation occurred.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Attorney Fees

Girod v. Kroger

As written, ballot titles must be accurate, state the scope of their effect, and comply with ORS 250.035(2).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Ballot Titles

Rasmussen v. Kroger

The Supreme Court may review a certified ballot title description in order to ensure that it complies with the guidelines of ORS 250.035, concerning definiteness and specificity.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Ballot Titles

State v. Davis

A defendant may introduce evidence of prior injury to demonstrate the possibility the harm did not occur at the time in question. However, such evidence may only be admitted if valid under OEC 701.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Evidence

Oregon Court of Appeals (31 summaries)

Department of Human Services v. K. H.

No due process violation results when a court limits submission of evidence to an offer of proof, and then decides based on that evidence that a further evidentiary hearing is unnecessary.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Juvenile Law

Dept. of Human Services v. J. F. D.

Under ORS 419B.340(1), DHS's reasonable efforts at the dispositional stage must be assessed as to each parent.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Juvenile Law

Dept. of Human Services v. A. D.

A juvenile court's order of adoption rather than reunification will be upheld where it is established on the record that DHS made a reasonable effort at reunification and that the parents will not be able to make the progress necessary in order for the child to be returned to the home in a reasonable amount of time.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Juvenile Law

Garner v. Taylor

A trial court cannot, on its own motion, set aside a prior judgment of visitation rights absent extraordinary circumstances.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Family Law

Dept. of Human Services v. C. L.

Evidence of a mother's physical abuse of her child is admissible for the first time at the hearing when the permanency plan at the time of hearing is APPLA and a change to the plan is being made to adoption, as long as there are procedural safeguards in place.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Juvenile Law

Dept. of Human Services v. M. Q.

Child endangerment requires conditions that rise to the level of "being threatened with serious loss or injury." The threat must be current to prove the child is endangered.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Juvenile Law

Dept. of Human Services v. C. C.

Under ORS 419B.340(2), the court shall enter a description of what efforts were made to reunite the family and what could have prevented the separation of the family.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Juvenile Law

Dept. of Human Services v. K. L. W.

The appointment of a guardian ad litem for an individual will be upheld if sufficient evidence is shown that the guardian ad litem is necessary to advance the individual's interests.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Family Law

State v. C. S.

An issue cannot be raised on appeal that was not preserved at the trial court. Additionally, if an error is reasonably in dispute, it cannot be plain error on the face of the record.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Appellate Procedure

State v. Farrar

For reasonable suspicion, an officer must subjectively believe a person has committed a crime and that belief under the totality of the circumstances must be objectively reasonable. In addition, the officer must point to specific facts demonstrating a crime was committed or the person was about to commit a crime.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Law

Dept. of Human Services v. D. L. H.

Per the Indian Child Welfare Act, a permanency hearing involving a tribal member requires active efforts to reunify the family. Active efforts means the Department of Human Services must actually assist in the reunification process.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Indian Law

A. F. v. Oregon Dept. of Human Services

DHS rules require the agency to meet the reasonable cause threshold which mandates that the agency demonstrate that a child is subject to a threat of severe harm, abuse, or neglect before the issuance of any allegations.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Juvenile Law

Dept. of Human Services v. M. R.

The denial of a motion to unseal records by the trial court is not an error when the records were never sealed to begin with.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Civil Procedure

Dept. of Human Services v. K. M. P.

A juvenile court may have abused its discretion in terminating parental rights when the parent has missed a hearing due to an excusable mistake and has shown a good faith effort to appear.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Juvenile Law

Dept. of Human Services v. L. G.

A juvenile court only has jurisdiction over a child as long as the bases for the jurisdiction are currently present.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Juvenile Law

State v. Montoya-Franco

Statements translated by interpreters are admissible under the residual hearsay rule if the interpreters are shown to be qualified to translate.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Evidence

American Energy, Inc. v. City of Sisters

Under section 25 of the Oregon Jobs and Transportation Act, an ordinance is deemed enacted when it is adopted by it's governing body, rather than after it has been referred for a citizen's vote.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Civil Law

Nelson v. American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc.

Under ORCP 71B, a court must have personal jurisdiction over a party in order to render a judgment.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Civil Procedure

State v. Debuiser

A court does not commit plain error when a plausible inference can be drawn that an objection was not made for tactical reasons.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Appellate Procedure

State v. R. E.

The test for establishing whether an individual is “dangerous to self” is: 1) the state must demonstrate the person is likely to harm themselves in the near future; and 2) there must be the possibility of actual physical harm.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Civil Commitment

State v. Davis

Circumstantial evidence may be used to establish trial venue.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Procedure

Dept. of Human Services v. J. B.

Paternity over a child is established in ORS 109.070 (1). Moreover, an outdated Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity (VAP) fails to establish paternity of a parent, and thus is fatal to the parent's effort to become the legal parent.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Juvenile Law

Gambaro v. Dept. of Justice

To overcome an adverse ruling on appeal, the appellant must overcome each alternative ground used by the trial court to justify its holding.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Civil Procedure

State v. Anthony

A hearsay statement is admissible if (1) the declarant is unavailable, (2) the statement is inculpatory, and (3) there is corroboration of the trustworthiness of the statement.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Evidence

Rushby and Rushby

Retirement accounts accrued during marriage shall be construed as martial property, regardless of payout status, for the purposes of marital dissolution.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Family Law

Thrifty Payless, Inc. v. Cole

"Regular work" is defined for the purposes of workers' compensation as any work that occurs on a steady, recurring basis, and affords a person their accustomed means. This includes overtime, if it occurred as defined by "regular work."

Area(s) of Law:
  • Workers Compensation

State v. M.W.H.

Warrantless searches may be justified if there is reasonable suspicion and exigent circumstances.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Juvenile Law

State v. Smith

When a prosecutor makes the decision to aggregate multiple theft offenses into a single charge, the burden is on the defendant to show that the prosecutor's aggregation system lacks sufficient criteria, or that those criteria are not consistently applied.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Law

State v. Dudley

A seizure of a person occurs if a law enforcement officer “intentionally and significantly” restricts that person’s movement or if a reasonable person based on the “totality of the circumstances” would believe their movement was restricted.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Law

State v. Fernandez

The natural and probable consequence jury instruction may prejudice the jury, if the jury could infer without determining intent that one action was the natural and probable consequence of another action.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Law

Gemstone Builders, Inc. v. Stutz

Even though the text of a contract was ambiguous as whether binding arbitration was required. The intent of parties could still be ascertained based on the policy goal of arbitration.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Contract Law

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