State v. Berg

This case is a companion to State v. Bailey, 346 Or 551, 213 P3d 1240 (2009), decided this date. As does the defendant in Bailey, defendant in this case challenges his conviction for “tampering with a witness,” ORS 162.285(1)(a), on the theory that that statute applies only when an official proceeding is pending at the time of the tampering conduct — a circumstance that the state did not and could not prove in this case. Today, in Bailey, we reject that interpretation of ORS 162.285(1)(a). In that case, we hold that the state can prove a violation of the statute by showing that the defendant…