State v. Gonzales

171 P.3d 266, 144 Idaho 775, 2007 Ida. App. LEXIS 77
Idaho Court of Appeals·Decided August 7, 2007·No. 31976·Published·Cited by 10 cases

Opinion

PERRY, Chief Judge.

Jose Alfred Gonzales appeals from the district court’s judgment of conviction and order of restitution. For the reasons set forth below, we vacate Gonzales’s judgment of conviction as it pertains to conditions of his probation, reverse the order of restitution, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I.

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The state charged Gonzales with unlawful penetration by use of a foreign object in violation of I.C. § 18-6608. Gonzales entered into a binding plea agreement pursuant to I.C.R. 11, which the district court accepted prior to sentencing. Pursuant to the plea agreement, Gonzales entered an Alford 1 plea to an amended charge of aggravated battery. I.C. §§ 18-903, 907. Subsequently, in the victim impact statement in the presentence investigation report (PSI), the victim of Gonzales’s crime, H.M.Z., requested $700 in restitution for vocational school tuition that she forfeited after Gonzales’s crime because she felt afraid to return to school. At the sentencing hearing, the state indicated that H.M.Z. had requested restitution and, although restitution was not included in the sentence set forth in the plea agreement, the state believed that H.M.Z. was entitled to restitution. Gonzales objected to restitution. The district court indicated it would not order restitution without further proof that H.M.Z. was entitled to it and provided forty-two days for H.M.Z. to submit evidence. The district court sentenced Gonzales to a unified term of eight years, with a minimum term of three years. Gonzales’s sentence was suspended and he was placed on probation with the condition that he serve one year in county jail with credit for time served.

The district court entered a judgment of conviction, which set forth additional conditions of Gonzales’s probation. One condition was that Gonzales “shall pay, prior to the expiration of this probation, restitution to the victim, in an amount to be submitted within forty-two days.” The next condition indicated that, “pursuant to Idaho Code § 19-5304(2), under the Victim’s Rights Statute, the Court will issue a separate Order of Restitution to the victim herein, to which reference is hereby made.” The judgment of conviction also imposed as conditions of probation that Gonzales pay several costs related to his case, totaling $688.50 plus up to $500 for time served in the county jail. A *777 separate agreement of supervision attached to the judgment of conviction indicated that Gonzales agreed to pay $688.50 in costs, but it did not mention the expenses for time served in the county jail or the forthcoming order of restitution to H.M.Z. to be issued pursuant to I.C. § 19-5304(2).

The state then filed a motion for restitution, requesting $369 in restitution for H.M.Z. The state also submitted a letter from H.M.Z. indicating that she had lost $369 in tuition and supplies invested in a massage therapy program in which she had been enrolled at the time of Gonzales’s crime. In the letter, H.M.Z. stated that she had suffered mental anguish due to Gonzales’s crime and dropped out of the program because she was afraid that another similar incident would occur. The state also submitted a letter from an official at the massage therapy program, which indicated that H.M.Z. had paid $369 for tuition and supplies. The state and Gonzales then entered into stipulated facts regarding restitution. They agreed that the letters would be admissible as evidence for the purposes of restitution, that H.M.Z. forfeited the $369 in tuition and supplies for which she received no academic credit, and that the state and H.M.Z. would seek restitution for the lost tuition and supplies but not for mental anguish. At a hearing on restitution, Gonzales asserted that the injury suffered by H.M.Z. could not be compensated in a restitution order. The district court, however, issued an opinion awarding H.M.Z. $369 in restitution for lost tuition and supplies. The district court reasoned that H.M.Z.’s forfeited tuition and supplies were causally, reasonably, and rationally related to Gonzales’s crime and could therefore be compensated in a criminal restitution order pursuant to I.C. § 19-5304. The district court entered a separate order of restitution providing that, pursuant to I.C. § 19-5304(2), H.M.Z. “have and recover judgment against defendant in the sum of $369 plus interest at the rate of 8.375% per annum, and that this sum is due and payable during the period of probation.” The order of restitution also stated that it “may be recorded as a judgment, and the victim herein may execute as provided by law for civil judgments.” Gonzales appeals.

II.

ANALYSIS

Gonzales asserts that the district court erred in ordering payment of $369 in restitution for H.M.Z.’s forfeited tuition and supplies because that expense is not a direct economic loss from the crime that can be compensated under Idaho’s victim restitution statute, I.C. § 19-5304. The state asserts that the restitution order was proper under I.C. § 19-5304, but that, even if the award was not authorized by I.C. § 19-5304, the district court properly awarded restitution as a condition of Gonzales’s probation to which Gonzales did not object in the trial court.

A. Payment of Forfeited Tuition and Supplies as Restitution

We first address Gonzales’s assertion that the district court was not authorized under I.C. § 19-5304 to order payment of $369 in restitution for H.M.Z.’s forfeited tuition and supplies. The state asserts that the district court properly reasoned that the lost tuition and supplies were causally, reasonably, and rationally related to Gonzales’s crime and could therefore be compensated in a criminal restitution order.

Orders for the payment of restitution to crime victims are governed by I.C. § 19-5304. State v. Taie, 138 Idaho 878, 879, 71 P.3d 477, 478 (Ct.App.2003). The decision whether to require restitution is committed to the trial court’s discretion. Id, It is generally recognized, however, that courts of criminal jurisdiction have no power or authority to direct reparations or restitution to a crime victim in the absence of a statutory provision to such effect. State v. Richmond, 137 Idaho 35, 37, 43 P.3d 794, 796 (Ct.App.2002). Therefore, the trial court’s exei’dse of discretion in requiring restitution must be within the boundaries provided in I.C. § 19-5304. State v. Cheeney, 144 Idaho 294, 296, 160 P.3d 451, 453 (Ct.App.2007). Restitution may be ordered only for actual economic loss suffered by a victim. I.C. §§ 19-5304(l)(a), (2). “Economic loss” is defined as follows:

*778 “Economic loss” includes, but is not limited to, the value of property taken, destroyed, broken, or otherwise harmed, lost wages, and direct out-of-pocket losses or expenses, such as medical expenses resulting from the criminal conduct, but does not include less tangible damage such as pain and suffering, wrongful death or emotional distress.

1.C. § 19-5304(l)(a).

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State v. Gonzales, 171 P.3d 266, 144 Idaho 775, 2007 Ida. App. LEXIS 77 (Idaho Ct. App. 2007).

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