State v. Cloutier

With all due respect to the majority, its decision in this case and in State v. Woolard, 259 Or 232, 484 P2d 314, 485 P2d 1194 (1971) are prime examples of how the courts in recent years, in their "q[uest for perfect criminal justice,” have on some occasions not only usurped the powers of the legislature, but in doing so have "enacted” new "rules” of criminal procedure fraught with potential complications. See Fleming, The Price of Perfect Justice (1974).1

*6051. The law prior to Woolard was straightforward and clear.

Prior to the decision by the majority of this court in Woolard it appears to have…