STATE v. LEWIS (2021)

Defendant was convicted by jury on two counts of first-degree robbery, one count of second-degree robbery, unlawful use of a weapon, and unlawful use of a vehicle. The trial court instructed the jury that it need not reach unanimous verdicts, but the jury nonetheless reached unanimous verdicts on all counts. The trial court merged one of the first-degree robbery verdicts into the other, and also merged the second-degree robbery and unlawful use of a vehicle verdicts into the first-degree robbery verdict. The court then entered a judgment of conviction on one count of first-degree robbery and one count of unlawful use of a weapon. On appeal, defendant argues that the trial court erred in excluding certain evidence, and also that the trial court plainly erred in instructing the jury that it need not reach unanimous verdicts. We reject without written discussion defendant's evidentiary argument. As for his argument that the court plainly erred in instructing the jury that it need not reach unanimous verdicts, defendant contends that because of the erroneous jury instruction, his convictions must be reversed in light of Ramos v. Louisiana, 590 U.S. ––––, 140 S. Ct. 1390, 206 L. Ed. 2d 583 (2020). We reject that argument for the reasons the Oregon Supreme Court set forth in State v. Chorney-Phillips, 367 Or. 355, 478 P.3d 504 (2020), and its companion cases.

Affirmed.

PER CURIAM