State v. Essex

Defendant appeals his conviction, after a jury trial, for discarding refuse in waters of the state, ORS 164.775(2), based on an incident in which he bit through his in-use fishing line, allowing the line and the tackle attached to it to fall into the Columbia River. Defendant asserts that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a judgment of acquittal of that charge on the ground that the line and tackle were not “refuse” regulated by the statute. We affirm.

When reviewing the denial of a motion for a judgment of acquittal, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the state…