State v. Cortes

Summary

The Oregon Supreme Court held that the probation statute's prohibition on possessing weapons covers instruments designed primarily for offensive or defensive combat, or instruments reasonably recognized as having substantially the same character, but not ordinary tools designed primarily for utility. Because the trial court treated the defendant's knife as a weapon without determining its design and character, the court reversed and remanded for a factual inquiry under the proper standard. The court relied on statutory text, context, legislative history, and constitutional-avoidance principles to reject a broad use-based interpretation that would create inadequate notice and arbitrary enforcement.