State v. Colby

*247Defendant appeals from a judgment of conviction entered for assault in the fourth degree, ORS 163.160, following a bench trial. On appeal, defendant assigns error to the trial court's refusal to disclose its interpretation of the elements of fourth-degree assault that it applied to convict him. As we explain, in a bench trial, as in a jury trial, a party is entitled, upon request, to a ruling with regard to the elements of the law that will be applied in the case. In bench trials, that can occur through the offer and acceptance of instructions, as in a jury trial, or through another means…