SERCOMBE , P.J. Mayola Williams, as personal representative of the Estate of Jesse D. Williams (the estate), appeals the trial court's limited judgment approving a payment of attorney fees and costs to a group of attorneys (the attorneys) who provided representation to the estate. The estate asserts that the trial court incorrectly interpreted ORS 31.735(1) and, as a result of that erroneous interpretation, granted the attorneys' motion for summary judgment and entered the limited judgment...
HADLOCK , J. This construction-defect case began when Sunset Presbyterian Church (Sunset) filed an action against its general contractor, Andersen Construction Company (Andersen). Andersen, in turn, filed a third-party complaint against its subcontractors, including B & B Tile and Masonry Corporation (B & B). Sunset and Andersen settled, and Andersen assigned its third-party claims against the subcontractors to Sunset. The subcontractors other than B & B settled, leaving Sunset (as...
SERCOMBE , P.J. Petitioner killed his parents in 1998 when he was 17 years old. Based on a guilty plea, he was convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to consecutive life sentences with mandatory minimum prison terms of 25 years. In 2011, he filed a successive petition for post-conviction relief under ORS 138.510 and ORS 138.550, 1 asserting that his sentence for murder was "unconstitutionally disproportionate to the penalty for the greater-included offense of aggravated murder...
NAKAMOTO , J. In this personal injury case, plaintiff 1 appeals a general judgment in favor of defendant, Polygon Northwest Company (Polygon), assigning error to the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Polygon on plaintiff's claims for relief under Oregon's Employer Liability Law (ELL), ORS 654.305 to 654.336, and for common-law negligence. The trial court entered judgment for Polygon based on its conclusion that there were no genuine issues as to any material facts and...
NAKAMOTO , J. At various points in 2009 and 2010, six women 1 filed actions for damages against defendant American Medical Response Northwest, Inc. Each woman alleged that defendant had permitted Lannie Haszard, a paramedic in its employ, to sexually abuse her while she was vulnerable. At issue in this consolidated appeal is the trial court's dismissal of each plaintiff's claim under the statute governing civil actions for abuse of a vulnerable person, ORS 124.100, 2 after the court...
NAKAMOTO , J. Petitioner Water Watch of Oregon, Inc. seeks judicial review of three separate final orders issued in contested cases by the Water Resources Department (the department) that were decided based on a consolidated record, and which we have consolidated for purposes of argument and opinion. In those three orders, the department granted to respondents the City of Lake Oswego, 1 the South Fork Water Board, and the North Clackamas County Water Commission 2 (collectively, the...
PER CURIAM . Reversed and remanded. Davis v. State of Oregon, 267 Or.App. 264 , 340 P.3d 713 , 2014 WL 6693794 (2014).
FLYNN , J. This case concerns a dispute over the scope of a mineral rights reservation contained in a warranty deed that was executed in 1954 in Josephine County, Oregon. Defendant Skidmore, current owner of the mineral rights reservation, appeals a judgment of the trial court declaring that his rights "do not include any rights to sand, gravel, or other rock or earth materials, in whatever form, used for construction purposes." Defendant does not challenge the trial court's conclusion...
HASELTON , C.J. Petitioner, who pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated murder and was sentenced to death, appeals the dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief. Petitioner argues, inter alia, that the post-conviction court erred in denying his allegation that criminal trial counsel were constitutionally inadequate in advising him to plead guilty to aggravated murder without securing, in return, a guarantee that the state would not seek the death penalty. We reject without...
DUNCAN , P.J. This case involves a public records request by defendant Guard Publishing Company (dba The Register-Guard), who sought disclosure of an energy purchase contract between respondents, the Commissioners of the Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB) and Seneca Sustainable Energy, LLC (Seneca). EWEB denied the records request and eventually initiated this action for injunctive and declaratory relief to establish that the contract, in its entirety, is exempt from disclosure...
ORTEGA , P.J. Entrepreneurs Foundation (employer) petitions for judicial review of an order by the Employment Appeals Board (the EAB), which adopted a hearing decision of an administrative law judge (ALJ) awarding unemployment benefits to claimant on the basis that employer terminated claimant but not for misconduct. Employer raises three assignments of error concerning the EAB's adoption of the ALJ's order, but all depend on its contention that the ALJ and the EAB should have based their...
SERCOMBE , P.J. Claimant seeks judicial review after the Employment Appeals Board (EAB) denied her unemployment benefits. The Employment Department (department) initially allowed benefits. Employer Wells Fargo requested a hearing on that allowance, but its request was untimely, and an administrative law judge (ALJ) concluded that employer lacked good cause for its tardiness. EAB reversed the ALJ, concluding that employer had good cause for filing a late hearing request. Claimant contends...
DEVORE , J. Plaintiffs brought this action against defendants for damages arising out of alleged defects in the construction of their home. The trial court granted defendants' motion for summary judgment on the basis that, in the absence of a discovery rule, plaintiffs' claims were barred by the six-year statute of limitations in ORS 12.080(3), which governs actions for "interference with or injury to any interest of another in real property[.]" Plaintiffs appeal the resulting judgment and...
HADLOCK , J. Respondent appeals the entry of a stalking protective order (SPO), contending that the evidence was insufficient to support it. We agree with respondent and therefore reverse. Respondent requests that we review the record de novo. See ORS 19.415(3) (the Court of Appeals may, in our sole discretion, review an equitable case de novo ). However, because we do not consider this an "exceptional case," we deny that request. See ORAP 5.40(8)(c) ("The Court of Appeals will...
LAGESEN , J. This appeal arises out of a construction-defect case. We conclude that the appeal is moot and, accordingly, dismiss. 1 This case involves a common configuration of parties in construction-defect cases. The Liberty Oaks Homeowners Association (the HOA) sued the original set of appellants in this matter, Liberty Oaks, LLC, J.T. Smith Companies, and Jeffery D. Smith (developers), alleging that developers were responsible for construction defects in the Liberty Oaks townhomes....
HADLOCK , J. Brad Taggart and BT of Sherwood, LLC (BT) (collectively, "defendants") appeal a supplemental judgment awarding Sherwood Park Business Center, LLC (SPBC) attorney fees and costs against Taggart and costs against BT. They assert on appeal that Taggart's prior discharge in bankruptcy prevented the court from entering an award of fees or costs against him in this case and, furthermore, that no fees or costs should have been awarded to SPBC because SPBC did not file a statement for...
DEVORE , J. Plaintiff, Casey Deckard, appeals a judgment that dismissed his claim against defendant, the personal representative of the estate of Roland King, based on statutory liability for serving alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person. 1 The issue in this case is whether ORS 471.565 creates statutory liability by which a person injured in an automobile accident may bring a claim against the social host who provided alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person. In reviewing the trial court'...
DUNCAN , P.J. Plaintiffs purchased a piece of real property, which we refer to as Lot 1, from LaNoue Development, LLC (LaNoue), 1 intending to build condominiums on it and sell them. 2 The Oregon Real Estate Agency (OREA) and Multnomah County surveyor delayed plaintiffs' condominium sales by withholding approval of their certificate of condominium, and, ultimately, plaintiffs' project failed. Plaintiffs contended that problems with their title to Lot 1 caused the failure of the project,...
NAKAMOTO , J. Claimant seeks judicial review of a final order of the Employment Appeals Board (EAB). The EAB affirmed the administrative law judge's (ALJ) denial of claimant's late request for a hearing concerning his right to extended unemployment insurance benefits that he had already received. Claimant, who is a native Cantonese speaker, contends that the Employment Department (department) failed to follow its policy on assisting claimants with limited English language proficiency. He...
PER CURIAM . Defendant Lear appeals a general judgment in favor of plaintiff Gary M. Bullock and Associates, PC, that, among other things, voided a deed transferring real property in the state of Washington from Lear to defendant L & M Properties and placed a lien on that property. Lear contends on appeal that the trial court erred in granting that relief because, under ORS 14.030, the court lacked authority to grant relief that directly affected title to real property located outside of...
