State v. Anderson
State v. Anderson
Opinion of the Court
A jury convicted defendant of one count of sexual abuse in the third degree, ORS 163.415. Defendant approached a stranger on a MAX train in Portland and repeatedly groped her, including her genital area. At trial, defendant requested a special jury instruction, arguing that a “knowing mens rea ought to attach” to the “lack of consent” element of the crime.
A party is generally entitled to have a proposed jury instruction given if the instruction accurately states the applicable law. State v. Barnes, 329 Or 327, 334, 986 P2d 1160 (1999). On appeal, defendant argues that his proposed instruction is a correct statement of law because, pursuant to ORS 161.095(2), a “defendant is only guilty of third-degree sexual abuse if a jury finds that he acted with a culpable mental state with respect to the element that the victim does not consent.” The state disagrees that any mental state requirement applies to the “does not consent” element. In the alternative, the state argues that, even if some culpable mental state must accompany that element, “knowing” is not the applicable mental state.
After the parties briefed this case, we decided Wier, 206 Or App 341. That case also involved a trial court’s refusal to give a defendant’s requested jury instruction on the elements of third-degree sexual abuse. The defendant’s proposed jury instruction included this phrase:
“Oregon law provides that a person commits the crime of sexual abuse in the third degree if the person knowingly subjects another person to sexual contact and the victim does not consent to the sexual contact and if the person knows that the victim does not consent to the sexual contact.”
In this case, defendant requested an instruction that the mental state of “knowing” attaches to the “does not consent” element. That is precisely the instruction that we rejected in Wier. Accordingly, it was not error for the trial court to refuse to issue defendant’s requested instruction.
Affirmed.
ORS 163.415 defines sexual abuse in the third degree as follows:
“(1) A person commits the crime of sexual abuse in the third degree if:
“(a) The person subjects another person to sexual contact and:
“(A) The victim does not consent to the sexual contact; or
“(B) The victim is incapable of consent by reason of being under 18 years ofage[.j”
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.