State v. Lundbom

Decision Date10 May 1989
Citation773 P.2d 11,96 Or.App. 458
PartiesSTATE of Oregon, Respondent, v. Gregory Lynn LUNDBOM, Appellant. N77786; CA A47706.
CourtOregon Court of Appeals

John Henry Hingson, III, Oregon City, argued the cause and submitted the brief for appellant.

Timothy Sylwester, Asst. Atty. Gen., Salem, argued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief were Dave Frohnmayer, Atty. Gen., and Virginia L. Linder, Sol. Gen., Salem.

Before BUTTLER, P.J., and WARREN and ROSSMAN, JJ.

ROSSMAN, Judge.

Defendant appeals his conviction for driving under the influence of intoxicants. ORS 813.010. He assigns as error, inter alia, the trial court's failure to sustain his objections to the improper remarks of the prosecutor and its denial of his motion for a new trial on grounds of prosecutorial misconduct. 1 We reverse and remand for a new trial.

During the State's closing argument, this exchange occurred:

"[PROSECUTOR]: But Steve van Ootegham [expert witness for the defense] who was in here, being paid money to be here to testify as he has always testified that this machine is inaccurate. That is his job. That is what he is hired to do. With all respect, I'm someone who tells it like it is. He's a pimp. Okay? He's hired to do a job and he does it. And if he were to come in here and to say the machine is accurate, he would not make a dime. And no defense attorney would hire him.

"[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: If it please the court, your Honor. I object to the personal attack on the witness and also a personal attack on the defense lawyer saying that I hire pimps. That is an attack upon the defendant's lawyer and not upon the facts of this case. And it improperly distracts this jury from its function * * *.

"THE COURT: Mr. Hingson. You're personally entitled to tell all that to the jury in your argument. You don't need to get it in at this point. I'm going to overrule your objection. You are entitled to express your arguments to the jury just as the state is.

"[PROSECUTOR]: Thank you, your Honor. I should backtrack. I mean no disrespect to Mr. Van Ootegham. I'm talking in concepts here and not in personalities at all. I'm talking in the sense that he is hired to do a job. Lawyers are called hired guns all the time. I could use the same language for myself. It's that I am not the evidence in this case, okay? You're not to consider me. Mr. Hingson is not the evidence in this case. You're not to consider him. So whatever you think of lawyers in general or he or me, it doesn't matter. So if we're pimps, so be it, I mean it doesn't matter.

"[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Objection. I don't want to, the record to reflect that I in any way accept being included in a category of a pimp. This is a personal attack even though he joins himself in that fold.

"THE COURT: Noted. This time I, I will caution you, Mr. Regan. I understand the point you are trying to make. I think maybe you're using language that's a little too strong.

"[PROSECUTOR]: I agree, your Honor.

"THE COURT: Tone it down, please."

Defendant did not request the court to give curative instructions or to declare a mistrial on the ground that the prosecutor had referred to defendant's expert witness and counsel as "pimps." He did, however, move for a new trial on grounds of misconduct of the prevailing party. ORS 136.535(4). 2 The issue is whether the trial court committed reversible error when it denied that motion after failing to sustain the objections to the prosecutor's remarks.

We conclude that it did. Although control of counsels' arguments is within the discretion of the trial court, that discretion is not unbounded. State v. Seeger, 4 Or.App. 336, 338, 479 P.2d 240 (1971). If an objectionable remark, properly challenged, is likely to influence the jury, the trial court's failure to correct it may be a ground for reversal. State v. Seeger, supra, 4 Or.App. at 338, 479 P.2d 240.

In this case, the prosecutor's remarks were not only inappropriate in and of themselves, but highly likely to influence the jury. The essence of his argument was that the jury should find defendant guilty, because his counsel was a "pimp" who knowingly hired a liar....

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18 cases
  • Warren v. Baldwin, s. CV
    • United States
    • Oregon Court of Appeals
    • 17 April 1996
    ...off the argument and instructing the jury to disregard petitioner's prior behavior on the issue of recklessness. See State v. Lundbom, 96 Or.App. 458, 462, 773 P.2d 11, rev. den. 308 Or. 382, 780 P.2d 735 (1989) (failure to sustain objections to prosecutor's improper arguments required reve......
  • State v. Veatch
    • United States
    • Oregon Court of Appeals
    • 29 October 2008
    ...action in response to a mistrial motion, preservation principles do not demand that the motion be made immediately); State v. Lundbom, 96 Or.App. 458, 462, 773 P.2d 11, rev. den., 308 Or. 382, 780 P.2d 735 (1989) (same). When the court gives a curative instruction without waiting for an ant......
  • State v. Chitwood
    • United States
    • Oregon Court of Appeals
    • 17 March 2021
    ...it based on a determination that it was persuaded by the evidence that defendant had committed the charged crimes. See State v. Lundbom , 96 Or. App. 458, 461, 773 P.2d 11, rev. den. , 308 Or. 382, 780 P.2d 735 (1989) (improper for prosecutor to make arguments "calculated to elicit an emoti......
  • State v. Wilson
    • United States
    • Oregon Court of Appeals
    • 27 October 1993
    ...objection. Because defendant's objection was overruled, his motion for a mistrial on the above ground was timely. See State v. Lundbom, 96 Or.App. 458, 773 P.2d 11, rev. den. 308 Or. 382, 780 P.2d 735 (1989). We conclude, however, that the trial court did not err in overruling that objectio......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
1 books & journal articles
  • Pre-trial discovery and motion practice
    • United States
    • James Publishing Practical Law Books Innovative DUI Trial Tools
    • 1 May 2021
    ...1. Any statement, remark, or insinuation that is intended to discredit defense counsel in front of the jury. State v. Lundbom , 96 Or. App. 458, 773 P.2d 11 (1989) (referring to defense counsel as “pimp” and “hired gun”); Carter v. State , 356 So. 2d 67 (Fla. App. 1978) (prosecutor referred......

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