State v. Fitzgerald

Defendant was convicted by a jury of the crime of escape in the second degree, ORS 162.155, and appeals, contending that his motion for acquittal should have been granted because the facts warranted submission to the jury of only a charge of attempt to escape. ORS 162.135 (4) defines escape as “the unlawful departure * * * of a person from custody # * *

The testimony heard by the jury from the witnesses indicates that defendant with other inmates of the Oregon State Penitentiary had been taken to the county courthouse in Salem for hearings upon various writs they had filed. After the court…