## Facts

- An automobile dealer in Baker, Oregon delivered a new automobile to James Dale Thompson after Thompson purported to purchase it.
- Thompson gave the dealer a $450 check that was worthless and executed a conditional sales contract for the remaining balance, on which he made no payments.
- Thompson used the name “W.D. Thompson” rather than his actual name.
- The conditional sales contract expressly reserved title to the dealer until full payment.
- On the same day he obtained the vehicle, Thompson left Oregon, traveled to Idaho, then moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he remained.
- Thompson did not return the automobile and remained out of Oregon until he was extradited back to Oregon nearly two years later.

## Issues

1. Whether the time between indictment and trial violated Oregon’s statutory and constitutional guarantees of a trial within a reasonable time when the defendant was absent from the state.
2. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by denying a second continuance requested shortly before trial to allow the defendant to obtain funds, retain counsel, and secure witnesses.
3. Whether the evidence supported larceny by trick (seller intended to transfer possession only) rather than obtaining property by false pretenses (seller intended to transfer title).

## Decision

- The court affirmed the conviction.
- The delay from indictment to trial did not violate the right to a speedy trial because the defendant was continuously out of state and unavailable for prosecution, and there was no showing the authorities knew his location.
- Denial of the late request for an additional continuance was not an abuse of discretion.
- The larceny-by-trick charge was proper because the conditional sales contract reserved title in the seller; the defendant obtained possession through fraud, not title.

## Legal Principles

- “Reasonable time” for trial depends on the attending circumstances; delay attributable to the defendant’s absence from the jurisdiction may be reasonable.
- A defendant generally cannot claim unreasonable delay when prosecution is impracticable because the defendant is out of state and unavailable.
- Rulings on continuances are reviewed for abuse of discretion; a last-minute request after a prior continuance may be denied without error.
- When a seller delivers property under a conditional sales contract that expressly reserves title until payment, the buyer receives possession but not title.
- Fraudulently obtaining possession where the victim intends to part only with possession (not title) supports larceny by trick rather than false pretenses.

## Conclusion

The Oregon Supreme Court upheld Thompson’s larceny-by-trick conviction, holding that the pretrial delay was reasonable given his out-of-state absence, the denial of a second continuance was within the trial court’s discretion, and the title-retention terms of the conditional sales contract meant the dealer transferred only possession, making larceny by trick the correct offense.


State v. Thompson, 240 Or. 468, 402 P.2d 243 (Or. 1965)