State v. Rose
| Decision Date | 02 May 1991 |
| Citation | 311 Or. 274,810 P.2d 839 |
| Parties | STATE of Oregon, Respondent, v. Jason Wayne ROSE, Appellant. TC 10-88-05312; SC S36201. |
| Court | Oregon Supreme Court |
Diane L. Alessi, Deputy Public Defender, Salem, argued the cause for appellant. With her on the brief were Paul J. De Muniz, and Garrett, Seideman, Hemann, Robertson & De Muniz, Salem.
Janet A. Metcalf, Asst. Atty. Gen., Salem, argued the cause for respondent. With her on the brief were Dave Frohnmayer, Atty. Gen., Virginia L. Linder, [311 Or. 275-A] Sol. Gen., Brenda J Peterson and Douglas F. Zier, Asst. Attys. Gen., Salem.
This is an automatic and direct review of a judgment of conviction of aggravated murder and sentence of death. Former ORS 163.150(1)(f) (1987) (now ORS 163.150(1)(g)). Defendant seeks reversal of his conviction of aggravated murder. Alternatively, he requests this court to vacate his sentence of death. He also seeks reversal of his conviction of robbery in the first degree. 1 We affirm defendant's convictions. We vacate his sentence of death and remand this case to the circuit court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
The jury found defendant guilty. Therefore, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the state. State v. Stevens, 311 Or. 119, 121, 806 P.2d 92 (1991).
On June 1, 1988, children playing in a wooded area in Springfield, Oregon, found a human body covered with brush and a board. Near the victim's body the police found a turquoise ring, a lapel or hat pin, and human hair matching the victim's. The ring and pin were identified as being the victim's property. Several hundred yards from the body the police found a campsite, cooking pots, utensils, multi-colored candles arranged in a circle, and a machete which later was identified as belonging to defendant.
John Ray Jones was a friend of defendant. Michelle Slagle was Jones' friend. After the victim's body was found, defendant and Jones talked with Slagle about the victim's death. Jones told Slagle that he and defendant had killed the victim. Slagle testified that defendant said that "they beat * * * her, they choked her, kicked her ribs in" and that he "used a machete to choke her."
Robyn Newman worked with defendant and Jones. Newman testified that defendant told her that he knew something about the victim's death, that he and Jones Janice Johnson also saw defendant using the "rune stones." Defendant told her that he used the stones to find out whom he would kill next and that sometimes he had to "hurt good people or kill them."
had to [311 Or. 277] kill the victim in order to get money, that the victim "had a price on her head," and that it is "easy to kill a friend, especially if you know them and they don't know what's going on, because you can get close to a friend." On different occasions, Newman saw defendant and Jones with "rune stones." 2 Defendant and Jones would throw the "rune stones" on the ground and then with the aid of a book, interpret their meaning. Defendant told the police that "the rune said that, if we didn't kill [the victim], we would die."
By the time the police had focused their investigation on defendant and Jones, the two men had gone to Arizona. The police located them there, and, on June 13, 1988, Captain Smith and Detective Bond flew to Arizona and arrested defendant and Jones for murder. Defendant was advised of his Miranda rights, which he said that he understood and was willing to waive. He agreed to talk to the police about the victim's death.
During the interview defendant gave several versions of the cause of the victim's death. First, he said he knew the victim but did not know how she died. Second, he said he had seen the victim on the day she died, but that he did not know how she died. Third, he said he was with the victim when a tree branch fell, killing her and he got scared, covered the body, and left. Fourth, he said he threw a wooden spear that he was carrying and that the spear struck a tree branch which broke and fell on the victim, killing her. When Detective Bond told defendant that Jones had confessed to murder and had implicated defendant, defendant said that Jones had killed the victim and that he, himself, was only an "accessory" to her death. Defendant said he did not want to kill the victim, but he had put a "choke hold" on her until she became unconscious and that after he laid her on the ground, Jones "whacked" her on the back of the neck twice with a machete.
Defendant said the victim was a "black witch," 3 who was a friend of Vaughn Shelton, a person who had threatened to kill defendant. Defendant said Jones had wanted the victim dead and that, after defendant had the victim in a "sleeper hold," Jones said, "I give you this sacrifice in the name of Arioch." 4 Defendant said he and Jones then placed a spear across the victim's neck and stood on both ends of it for ten minutes. Then they removed the victim's jewelry and sacrificed it to "some god." Defendant said that they then removed the victim's blouse and ripped her pants to make it appear as though she had been raped, and then they put her body in the shrubs and covered it with a board.
On arriving back in Oregon, Smith and Bond took defendant and Jones to the scene of the crime, where both men agreed to reenact the murder. Three reenactments of the murder were recorded on a single videotape (State's Exhibit 28). The first reenactment was by defendant alone, the second was by Jones alone, and the third was by defendant and Jones together. A mannequin was used to portray the victim in all three reenactments.
We summarize the first reenactment, rendered by defendant alone. On or about Later, the victim told defendant and Jones that she was working for Shelton. Defendant became very angry and stated, Defendant grabbed the victim around her neck and "wrenched down hard." She struggled but finally became unconscious, and defendant laid her face down on the ground.
May 30, 1988, defendant, Jones, and the victim went to a campsite that defendant and Jones had set up earlier. Defendant and the victim went into the bushes to have intercourse. About 45 minutes later, defendant heard "voices and footsteps." He thought that Vaughn Shelton might be looking for him. Defendant left the victim to find Jones. Defendant and Jones then took "spears" and began looking for Shelton. Soon thereafter, the victim came up behind defendant, startling him. He turned and threatened her with his spear. Jones asked defendant, "Should we kill her now?" Defendant answered, "Not yet. But I want the [311 Or. 279] bitch dead--the runes said so, and we don't disobey the runes."
Defendant removed the sweater that the victim was wearing, which he had loaned to her earlier in the evening to keep warm. When he pulled the sweater off, her jacket also came off. Defendant said, "In the name of Arioch, we grant you your sacrifice, now!" Jones struck the victim twice on the back of her neck with a machete. Defendant walked toward the victim. As he did, her body rolled over so that it was face up. The victim was still breathing and she started to regain consciousness. Defendant "karate-chopped" her in the throat and brought his elbow down into her stomach just below her ribs. Defendant checked the victim's pulse and felt that she still had one. He straddled her body and choked her with his hands for five to ten minutes.
Jones then suggested that they lay a spear across her neck. Defendant agreed and the men stood on both ends of the spear for about 20 minutes talking about what the "rune stones" had said to them. Defendant and Jones checked the victim's body. They did not feel a pulse and her body felt cold. Nonetheless, to be certain that she was dead, they stood on the spear for another five minutes talking about "what the runes said to do." The cause of death was asphyxia due to strangulation.
Defendant took the victim's three necklaces, and he and Jones took her rings. The two men then threw the body down a gully. While defendant performed a ritual to keep evil spirits away, Jones covered the body with brush and a board. They placed the necklaces in the victim's purse, and carried the purse, the rings, the sweater, and the victim's jacket back to their campsite. Defendant built a fire and threw some of the victim's jewelry into the fire as a sacrifice to two gods who take "jewelry and crafted items as sacrifices." Defendant and Jones kept the jewelry that they did not sacrifice and gave some of it to their respective girlfriends. 5 Defendant kept the victim's cosmetics bag, which he used to make a "resin" (marijuana) kit, and her jacket, which he altered and wore.
After defendant reenacted the victim's murder, Detective Bond asked him how he felt about killing the victim. Defendant responded that he had "passed through the seventh gate," which, he explained, was a human sacrifice, and that it made him feel good. Defendant told Bond, "She was hard to kill" and that "this was a human sacrifice."
A discrepancy exists between defendant's first reenactment of the murder and the third reenactment by defendant and Jones together. In the first reenactment, defendant said the men had taken the victim's jewelry after she was dead. In the third reenactment, defendant said the victim was still alive when they took her jewelry. Jones agreed with the latter statement.
Defendant was charged with one count of aggravated murder based on four different theories (murder in the course of and in furtherance of robbery in the first degree; murder in the course of and in furtherance of kidnapping; murder in the course of or as a result of intentional maiming; and murder in the course of or as a result of intentional torture). He also...
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