State v. Cetto

Defendant was tried by the court and convicted of assault in the fourth degree. ORS 163.160. He assigns as error 1 the denial of his motion to exclude witnesses. OEC 615.

Opening statements were waived. The state’s first witness was the mother of the 3-year-old alleged assault victim. After she gave her name and address, defendant moved to exclude the witnesses:

“[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Your Honor, excuse me, I would like to have the witnesses excluded.

“[THE COURT]: Supposed to be before the start of the trial.

“[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Yes, your Honor.

“[THE COURT]: I’ll deny your motion.”

The tape-recorded…