State v. Chelson

Defendant appeals a judgment of conviction for unlawful use of a weapon, ORS 166.220, and menacing, ORS 163.190. He assigns error to the trial court’s ruling that, as a matter of law, defendant was not entitled to assert the defense of use of physical force in defense of property. He also assigns error to the trial court’s denial of a motion for a judgment of acquittal.

The facts necessary to dispose of the appeal are few and undisputed. In the small hours of a summer morning, two men wearing dark clothes with the words “Recovery Agent” stenciled on them stopped in front of defendant’s house…