State v. McGowan

Summary

The Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed a judgment finding Robert Duane McGowan guilty except for insanity and committing him to the Oregon State Hospital and the jurisdiction of the Psychiatric Security Review Board. The court held that ORS 138.105(5) precluded appellate review of McGowan’s challenge to the validity of his guilty-except-for-insanity plea based on the trial court’s alleged failure to advise him about the possibility of conditional discharge. The court concluded that such a plea is a plea of guilty for purposes of the statute and that GEI proceedings are not special statutory proceedings.

Holdings

1. A defendant's appeal from a guilty-except-for-insanity judgment is an appeal by a defendant governed by ORS 138.105, even though the judgment is appealable under ORS 161.327(8) and ORS 19.205(5).
2. A challenge based on the trial court's failure to advise a defendant, before accepting a guilty-except-for-insanity plea, of the possibility of commitment or conditional discharge challenges the validity of the plea.
3. A guilty-except-for-insanity plea is a plea of guilty for purposes of ORS 138.105(5), so the statute's prohibition on reviewing the validity of a defendant's guilty plea applies.
4. Proceedings under ORS 161.327 are criminal proceedings, not separate special statutory proceedings, and therefore are not excluded from ORS 138.105's reviewability limitations.

Questions Presented

1. Whether ORS 138.105(5) precludes appellate review of a defendant's challenge to the validity of a guilty-except-for-insanity plea.
2. Whether a guilty-except-for-insanity plea is a plea of guilty for purposes of ORS 138.105(5).
3. Whether a guilty-except-for-insanity proceeding is a special statutory proceeding outside the reviewability limitations of ORS chapter 138.

Disposition

affirmed