State v. Rader

Ordinarily, fourth-degree assault is a misdemeanor. ORS 163.160(2). It becomes a Class C felony, however, when the victim’s minor child “see[s]” or “directly perceive[s]” the assault. ORS 163.160(3)(c); ORS 163.160(4). Those statutes give rise to two questions in this case. The first is what the phrase “directly perceive[s]” means. The second is whether the evidence was sufficient to permit a reasonable trier of fact to find that a child who was in her bedroom “perceived” an assault on her mother that occurred outside the child’s closed bedroom door. In resolving those questions, the Court of…