State v. McDowell, 352 Or 27 (2012)

Holding:   Defendant was arrested and held for 236 days. On the day of trial, the Circuit Court dismissed the charges. Several days later, the State reindicted on the same charges and arrested Defendant again. For purposes of the statute limiting pre-trial custody, the clock began running the first time the defendant was arrested.

1)  “Our task is to discern what the legislature contemplated in enacting (the statute), examining the text in context and, where appropriate, legislative history and other aids to construction.” citing State v. Gaines. at p. 30.

2)   “Context may include other statutes enacted simultaneously with the statute at issue, (cite omitted), as well as prior versions of the same statute.” at pp. 30-31.

3)   The statute says that if defendant’s custody is interrupted, the time he or she is not in custody after the interruption must be excluded from the 60-day limit. “That implies that the time which the defendant was in custody before the interruption does count.” at p. 32.

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