State v. Bess
State v. Bess
Opinion of the Court
Defendant was convicted of felony Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants, ORS 813.010(1), (5). He raises a number of assignments of error on appeal, only one of which requires discussion. We therefore affirm on his other assignments without further comment.
At the time of the sentencing hearing, defendant made a number of complaints about the performance of his attorney and asked the court to appoint a new attorney for the purpose of sentencing. The trial court did not make any inquiry about those complaints, and it required defendant to proceed with the same attorney at the hearing.
Sentence vacated and remanded with instructions to inquire into defendant’s complaints regarding his attorney, appointing new counsel for the hearing if defendant so requests. If the trial court determines that defendant was entitled to substitute counsel, it shall order a new sentencing hearing; otherwise it shall reinstate the previous sentence. Otherwise affirmed.
Defense counsel told the court, “|Y]ou’re putting [defendant] in an untenable position. I think I should be removed at this point and get him another counsel.” The court responded, “It’s not going to happen [defense counsel].”
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.