PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon Supreme Court has overturned a 43-year-old decision aimed at preventing judges from acting vindictively by imposing harsher sentences on defendants who win their appeals and appear in court a second time.
The court ruled Friday that Oregon judges can impose a longer sentence in such cases, but only if the reasons are spelled out and based on new information — and aren’t retaliation against the defendant.
The case involved a Polk County man sentenced in 2003 to a total of three and a half years on multiple charges in a sex abuse case.
He won a new sentence because of a procedural error, and the next time around a judge made it five years.
The high court sent the case back for a third round of sentencing.