People v. Padilla-Lopez

2012 CO 49, 279 P.3d 651, 2012 WL 2393078
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedJune 25, 2012
DocketNo. 10SC832
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 2012 CO 49 (People v. Padilla-Lopez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Padilla-Lopez, 2012 CO 49, 279 P.3d 651, 2012 WL 2393078 (Colo. 2012).

Opinions

Justice HOBBS

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

1 1 In this case, we accepted certiorari on a statutory construction issue involving the definition of the word "victim" within the criminal case restitution statute, sections 18-1.3-601 to -608, C.R.S. (2011).1 Under that statute, the general assembly has defined "victim" as "any person aggrieved by the conduct of an offender." $ 18-1.3-602(4)(a). The prosecution argues that the El Paso County Department of Human Services (DHS) is a vietim entitled to restitution from Nicolette Padilla-Lopez because it was required to expend funds to provide foster care for her children as a result of her guilty plea to misdemeanor child abuse. The court of appeals held that DHS could not be considered a victim for purposes of the criminal case restitution statute because the elements of the underlying crime of child abuse pertain to wrongful conduct against the child and do not include a wrong against DHS. We agree.

1 2 We hold that the existing criminal case restitution statute does not classify DHS as a "victim" for the purpose of recovering costs it has expended in the course of fulfilling its statutorily mandated duty to provide necessary care to dependent and neglected children.

I.

3 In July 2007, the police arrested Nico-lette Padilla-Lopez for possession of illegal drugs. Alleging the presence of illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia in the home and within reach of her two young children, the prosecution charged her with child abuse. She subsequently pled guilty to two counts of possession, misdemeanor theft, and misdemeanor child abuse. As part of the plea agreement, Padilla-Lopez stipulated that she would pay lawfully imposed restitution, but did not stipulate that DHS was a victim to which she owed restitution. Because of the child abuse conviction, the state removed Padilla-Lopez's children from her and placed them in foster care.

T4 The district court recites in its order that DHS sought recovery of expenditures it made "for foster care for the children or family therapy involving the children or the care of the children." It ordered Padilla-Lopez to pay $19,295.14, the full amount of DHS's expenditures, in restitution to compensate the DHS for the cost of caring for and providing psychological counseling for her children while the children were in DHS custody. The district court ruled that the costs incurred by DHS were "proximately caused by Defendant's illegal conduct" of drug possession and use; therefore, DHS was a "victim" entitled to restitution under the statute. The district court's order does not address the provision of section 18-1.3-602(4)(a) defining "victim" as a person "aggrieved by the conduct of an offender." Instead, the trial court focused only on the "proximately caused" language of section 18-1.3-602(8)(a), describing "restitution." The district court's ruling states as follows:

The caseworker assigned to Defendant's case testified that foster care for the Defendant's children was instituted and continued primarily as a result of Defendant's illegal drug possession and use. Thus, the Court finds that the expenditure of resources was proximately caused by Defendant's illegal conduct.

T5 Padilla-Lopez appealed, arguing that DHS was not a victim as defined by the restitution statute. The court of appeals agreed, holding that because the underlying [653]*653crime of child abuse requires wrongful con-duet against a child, DHS, as a governmental agency responsible for the care of dependent and neglected children, could not be a victim of the underlying crime and thus not a victim within the meaning of the restitution statute. The court of appeals distinguished this case from cases where an essential element of the underlying erime required the victim to be a peace officer or where the defendant's unlawful conduct was directed against the government agency entitled to restitution. We granted certiorari to determine whether the district court properly awarded restitution to DHS under the restitution statute. We agree with the court of appeals' judgment reversing the trial court's order.

IL.

T 6 We hold that the existing criminal case restitution statute does not classify DHS as a "victim" for the purpose of recovering costs it has expended in the course of fulfilling its statutorily mandated duty to provide necessary care to dependent and neglected children.

A. Standard of Review

We interpret statutes de novo. People v. Smith, 254 P.3d 1158, 1161 (Colo.2011). Our goal is to give effect to the intent of the legislature. Sigalo v. Atencio's Mkt., 184 P.3d 40, 42 (Colo.2008). We accord words and phrases their plain and ordinary meaning. Denver Post Corp. v. Ritter, 255 P.3d 1083, 1089 (Colo.2011). If we have previously construed a statute, our doctrine of stare decisis compels us to "apply prior precedent unless we are clearly convinced that (1) the rule was originally erroneous or is no longer sound due to changing conditions and (2) more good than harm will come from departing from precedent." Friedland v. Travelers Indem. Co., 105 P.3d 689, 644 (Colo.2005); see also Martin v. People, 27 P.3d 846, 856 (Colo.2001) (holding that we should not reinterpret statutory language which has remained unchanged since our previous interpretation; any such change should be made by the General Assembly).

B. Cost Recovery Provisions of the Restitution Statute

T8 The authority of a trial court to order restitution in a criminal case for recovery of a victim's costs resides in the provisions of sections 18-1.3-601 to -603, C.R.S. (2011). This statute defines "restitution" as "any pecuniary loss suffered by a victim ... proximately caused by an offender's conduct and that can be reasonably calculated and recompensed in money." $ 18-1.3-602(8)(a). "Vice-tim" means "any person aggrieved by the conduct of an offender." § 18-1.3-602(4)(a).2

T9 In Dubois v. People, 211 P.3d 41 (Colo.2009), we examined whether a governmental agency could recover its costs under the provisions of the restitution statute. The question was whether a police officer and Alamosa County were "victims" entitled to restitution within the meaning of the statute. Id. at 42. In that case, the defendant pled guilty to vehicular eluding to avoid apprehension by a police officer. During the car chase, one of the responding police officers was involved in a collision resulting in destruction of her patrol car and injuries to her. Id.

{10 We held that the police officer was entitled to recover $171.92 for personal losses and Alamosa County was entitled to recover $22,509.23 for loss of the patrol car because the essential elements of the underlying offense of vehicular eluding "require[ ] the primary 'victim' to be a peace officer" and "require(] the use of a vehicle." Id. at 46. Because the crime requires use of a vehicle, it was "reasonably foreseeable that other peace officers would respond by driving to the scene of the crime and might sustain injuries from a vehicular accident while responding." Id.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2012 CO 49, 279 P.3d 651, 2012 WL 2393078, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-padilla-lopez-colo-2012.