State v. McBride, 352 Or 159 (2012)

Holding:   Child endangerment statute makes it illegal to permit a person under 18 to enter or remain in place where unlawful drug activity is occurring. Defendant didn’t own the house, and, the children were the offspring and guest of the person who did, and, Defendant didn’t do anything to affirmatively make the children’s presence possible. Thus, defendant didn’t permit them to be there, and trial court should have granted motion for acquittal.

1)   “To determine the legislature’s intent * * * we consider the statute’s text, context and legislative history.” citing State v. Gaines. at p. 164.

2)  The commentary to the 1971 overhaul of the criminal code supports the conclusion drawn from examining the text. at pp. 164-65.

3)  Courts will look at the definitions of synonyms to bolster its choice of which definition more closely matches legislative intent. at p. 166.

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