State v. Pritchard

The state appeals from a pretrial order excluding evidence of defendant’s prior conviction in a criminal case. Defendant was charged with being an exconvict in possession of a firearm, ORS 166.270,1 of which a material element is a previous conviction of an offense which was a felony "at the time of * * * conviction.” At a pretrial hearing, the trial court held that defendant’s 1970 conviction for taking and using a motor vehicle without permission of the owner, in violation of former ORS 164.670, was a felony at the time of conviction, but had become a misdemeanor by virtue of defendant’s…