In Re State Ex Rel. Tlb

2009 OK CIV APP 70, 218 P.3d 534
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedAugust 18, 2009
Docket105,802. Released for Publication by Order of the Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, Division No. 4
StatusPublished

This text of 2009 OK CIV APP 70 (In Re State Ex Rel. Tlb) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re State Ex Rel. Tlb, 2009 OK CIV APP 70, 218 P.3d 534 (Okla. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

218 P.3d 534 (2009)
2009 OK CIV APP 70

In the Matter of the STATE Of Oklahoma in the Interest of T.L.B., A Delinquent Child.
Kevin Booth and Debbie Booth, Appellants,
v.
State of Oklahoma, Appellee.

No. 105,802. Released for Publication by Order of the Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, Division No. 4.

Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, Division No. 4.

August 18, 2009.

*535 Stanley D. Monroe, Trevor L. Reynolds, Ann E. Keele, Monroe & Associates, Tulsa, OK, for Appellants.

Rick Esser, District Attorney, William D. Drake, Assistant District Attorney, Bartlesville, OK, for Appellee.

DOUG GABBARD II, Presiding Judge.

¶ 1 Appellants, Kevin Booth and Debbie Booth (Parents), the parents of T.L.B., a minor, appeal the trial court's denial of their petition seeking modification of a restitution order. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand with directions.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 On February 4, 2005, T.L.B., then 17 years old, negligently drove his vehicle into oncoming traffic and caused a head-on collision with another vehicle occupied by Burton and Evangeline Swartz. Mr. Swartz was seriously injured and subsequently died from his injuries. The District Attorney's Office of Washington County (State) filed a petition alleging T.L.B. was delinquent as defined by Oklahoma law because of his actions. Ultimately, T.L.B. was adjudicated as delinquent, a service plan was adopted directing him to perform zero to ten hours of community service at the discretion of the Office of Juvenile Affairs, and a restitution hearing was scheduled.

¶ 3 On April 7, 2006, the restitution hearing was conducted. The trial court began by ordering that $1,149.75 earned by T.L.B. while performing community service be paid to Mrs. Swartz. The trial court thereafter received testimony, and the following day entered an order finding, in part, that Mrs. Swartz had actual damages of $61,371.18, and that she was entitled under 22 O.S.2001 § 991f (A)(1) to receive up to three times her actual damages.[1] The court further held that she should only receive double damages ($122,742.36), less the previously awarded $1,149.75, for a total of $121,592.61. The court assessed these damages against T.L.B. and Parents, directed that they pay same at the rate of $500 per month, and ordered that the balance carry interest at the statutory *536 rate of 12 percent per annum. The trial court also ordered T.L.B. to perform an additional 23,610 hours of community service at the rate of a minimum of 1,000 hours per year. Parents did not perfect an appeal,[2] and the 2006 order is now a final judgment in the case.

¶ 4 Two years later, on March 27, 2008, Kevin Booth filed a petition for modification of restitution, alleging that his constitutional rights were violated when the trial court imposed restitution without giving him the benefit of a jury trial. He also alleged that the order was inconsistent with a settlement agreement between Parents and Mrs. Swartz in a related civil suit, and also with "§ 991a(18)(b)."[3] Debbie Booth orally joined in the petition. However, the trial court summarily denied same.

¶ 5 Parents now bring this appeal.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 6 The primary issue presented by this case is whether Parents were entitled to a jury trial on the issue of restitution. This presents a question of law, which we review de novo, that is, without deference. Fanning v. Brown, 2004 OK 7, 85 P.3d 841.

ANALYSIS

¶ 7 In their first proposition, Parents assert they were denied their constitutional right to a jury trial at the original restitution hearing. They claim that Article 2, § 19 of the Oklahoma Constitution, and the U.S. Constitution, guarantee them the right to a jury trial on the issue of restitution, that they were not provided one, and that they did not waive same.[4] This appears to be a matter of first impression in Oklahoma.

¶ 8 The concept of restitution is found in both civil and criminal law. A civil litigant, for instance, may obtain restitution through an action in quantum meruit or for an injunction, and may also sue for restitution as a remedy, as an alternative to damages, for breach of contract. See 22 Am.Jur.2d Damages § 56 (2009). In the criminal system, a court may impose restitution as a condition of sentencing. See 22 O.S.2001 § 991a, et seq.

¶ 9 A court also may impose restitution in the course of a delinquency proceeding. See 10 O.S. Supp.2006 § 7303-5.3(A)(7)(c)[5]; and 22 O.S.2001 § 991f.[6] In addition, § 7303-5.3 *537 permits courts to require parents to pay the restitution for a delinquent child's conduct because there is a special relationship between a parent and child that imposes a duty upon the parent to monitor and control the child's conduct. See In re C.A.R., 1994 OK CIV APP 124, 882 P.2d 582, and In re C.T., 1999 OK CIV APP 55, 983 P.2d 523 (both cases cited with approval by the Oklahoma Supreme Court in In re J.L.M., 2005 OK 15, 109 P.3d 336).

¶ 10 Neither 10 O.S. Supp.2006 § 7303-5.3(A)(7)(c), nor 22 O.S.2001 § 991a, et seq., specifically address whether parents are entitled to a jury trial on the amount of restitution. However, Parents assert that Article 2, § 19 of the Oklahoma Constitution guarantees such a right. Section 19 states:

The right to a trial by jury shall be and remain inviolate, except in civil cases wherein the amount in controversy does not exceed One Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($1,500.00), or in criminal cases wherein punishment for the offense charged is by fine only, not exceeding One Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($1,500.00). Provided, however, that the Legislature may provide for jury trial in cases involving lesser amounts.[7]

¶ 11 Oklahoma courts have long held that § 19 creates no new right, but merely preserves the right to trial by jury where the right already existed at common law. Vogel v. Corp. Comm'n of Okla., 1942 OK 14, 190 Okla. 156, 121 P.2d 586; Sharpe v. State ex rel. Okla. Bar Ass'n, 1968 OK JUD 1, 448 P.2d 301. Historically, parties were not entitled to a jury trial where the action, claim, or proceeding was of purely equitable cognizance. Liles v. Bigpond, 1942 OK 38, 121 P.2d 596.

¶ 12 Restitution is a traditional equitable remedy. It has been defined as an "`equitable remedy under which a person is restored to his or her original position prior to the loss or injury....' [A]n act of restoring; restoration; restoration of anything to its rightful owner; the act of making good or giving equivalent for any loss, damage, or injury; and indemnification." State ex rel. Okla. Bar Ass'n v. Leigh, 1996 OK 37, n. 23, 914 P.2d 661 (quoting Black's Law Dictionary 1313 (6th ed.1990)); see also Federal Trade Comm'n v. Kitco of Nevada, Inc., 612 F.Supp. 1280 (D.Minn.1985). Both the U.S. Supreme Court and the Oklahoma Supreme Court have viewed restitution as an ancillary remedy in the exercise of a court's general equity power to afford complete relief. Mitchell v. Robert De Mario Jewelry, Inc., 361 U.S. 288, 80 S.Ct. 332, 4 L.Ed.2d 323 (1960); State ex rel. Day v. Southwest Mineral Energy, Inc., 1980 OK 118, 617 P.2d 1334.

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Booth v. State
2009 OK CIV APP 70 (Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, 2009)

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Bluebook (online)
2009 OK CIV APP 70, 218 P.3d 534, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-state-ex-rel-tlb-oklacivapp-2009.