State of West Virginia v. Marty Atwell

765 S.E.2d 182, 234 W. Va. 293
West Virginia Supreme Court·Decided November 6, 2014·No. 13-0982·Separate·Cited by 3 cases

Opinions

BENJAMIN, Justice:

The petitioner, Marty Atwell, appeals the August 21,2013, order of the Circuit Court of Kanawha County that denied his motion requesting a reduction in the amount of restitution he was ordered to pay after pleading guilty to Nighttime Burglary by Way of Entering Without Breaking and Grand Larceny. For the reasons stated herein, this Court reverses the circuit court’s denial of the petitioner’s motion for reduction of restitution and remands for a hearing on the issue of restitution.

I. FACTS

In May 2013, the prosecuting attorney of Kanawha County filed an information charging the petitioner with one count of Nighttime Burglary by Way of Entering without Breaking and one count of Grand Larceny for stealing a stainless steel stove and refrigerator from the dwelling house of Steve Loncki. The petitioner pled guilty to both counts in the information.

The Adult Probation Department submits ted a thorough Presentence Report to the circuit court. According to the report, the residence in which the petitioner committed the crimes had been vacant because the homeowner, Mr. Loncki, had sustained a traumatic brain injury while performing work on the residence. As a result of the accident, Mr. Loncki was in a coma for six months. After undergoing rehabilitation, Mr. Loncki went to live with his parents in Delaware. The presentence report also indicated that there was evidence that the petitioner had conspired with others to remove items from Mr. Loneki’s residence in addition to the stove and refrigerator.

Attached to the presentenee report was a victim statement prepared by Mr. Loncki’s parents which indicated that Mr. Loncki did not have insurance on the residence and that the residence was a total loss. The statement also included an itemized list of property stolen and the purported value of each item, which adds up to .SSO.OIS.OO.1 A police report included in the presentence report states that numerous items were taken from Mr. Loncki’s property including military medals awarded to Mr. Loncki’s daughter, who died serving in the military in Iraq, a trailer, and three four-wheelers.

In its July 23, 2013, sentencing order, the circuit court sentenced the petitioner to a term of incarceration of 1 to 15 years for the nighttime burglary charge and 1 to 10 years for grand larceny with the sentences to run consecutively.2 Pertinent to this appeal, the petitioner was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $50,013.00 to the victim of his crimes. The petitioner’s counsel took exception to the amount of restitution in light of the fact that the petitioner pled guilty only to stealing a stove and refrigerator. In his subsequent Rule 35 motion for reconsideration of sentence, the petitioner requested that the amount of restitution be corrected to reflect the value of the stove and refrigerator which were listed in the information.3 The circuit court denied the petitioner’s motion in its August 21, 2013 order.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Our standard of review in this ease is stated in syllabus point 1 of State v. Lucas, 201 W.Va. 271, 496 S.E.2d 221 (1997) as follows:

[295] The Supreme Court of Appeals reviews sentencing orders, including orders of restitution made in connection with a defendant’s sentencing, under a deferential abuse of discretion standard, unless the order violates statutory or constitutional commands.

III. DISCUSSION

The petitioner’s sole assignment of error is that the circuit court abused its discretion in determining the amount of restitution absent the presentation of evidence of the victim’s loss at the sentencing hearing and without determining the petitioner’s ability to pay restitution.

The State responds that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in determining the amount of restitution. The State notes that as part of the respondent’s guilty plea, he agreed to pay the amount recommended by the Adult Probation Department which, based on the information submitted to the Department from the victim’s family and included in the presentence report, amounts to $50,013.00. According to the State, the petitioner adduced no evidence at the sentencing hearing to rebut the values of the items stolen as presented in the report, nor did he present any argument related to his financial condition and his ability to pay restitution.

With regal’d to a circuit court’s determination of the amount of restitution, this Court has held:

Under W.Va.Code, 61-11A-1 through -8 and the principles established in our criminal sentencing jurisprudence, the circuit court’s discretion in addressing the issue of restitution to crime victims at the time of a criminal defendant’s sentencing is to be guided by a presumption in favor of an award of full restitution to victims, unless the circuit court determines by a preponderance of the evidence that full restitution is impractical, after consideration of all of the pertinent circumstances, including the losses of any victims, the financial circumstances of the defendant, and the defendant’s family, the rehabilitative consequences to the defendant and any victims, and such other.factors as the court may consider.

Syl. pt. 3, Lucas, 201 W.Va. 271, 496 S.E.2d 221. Factors to be considered in determining the amount of restitution are set forth in W. Va.Code § 61-11A-5(a) (1984) of the-Victim Protection Act of 1984 as follows:

The court, in determining whether to order restitution under this article and in determining the amount of such restitution, shall consider the amount of the loss sustained by any victim as a result of the offense, the financial resources of the defendant, the financial needs and earning ability of the defendant and the defendant’s dependents, and such other factors as the court deems appropriate.

In addition, W. Va.Code § 61-llA-5(d) provides the allocation of the burden of proof between the parties:

Any dispute as to the proper amount or type of restitution shall be resolved by the court by the preponderance of the evidence. The burden of demonstrating the amount of the loss sustained by a victim as a result of the offense shall be on the prosecuting attorney. The burden of demonstrating the financial resources of the defendant and the financial needs of the defendant and such defendant’s dependents shall be on the defendant. The burden of demonstrating such other matters as- the court deems appropriate shall be upon the party designated by the court as justice requires.

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State of West Virginia v. Marty Atwell, 765 S.E.2d 182, 234 W. Va. 293 (W. Va. 2014).

765 S.E.2d 182 (State of West Virginia v. Marty Atwell) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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