State v. Howett

56 P.3d 459, 184 Or. App. 352, 2002 Ore. App. LEXIS 1621
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedOctober 16, 2002
Docket0010-38083; A114089
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 56 P.3d 459 (State v. Howett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Howett, 56 P.3d 459, 184 Or. App. 352, 2002 Ore. App. LEXIS 1621 (Or. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

*354 WOLLHEIM, J.

Defendant appeals her sentence for theft in the first degree. ORS 164.055. Defendant assigns error to the amount of restitution imposed by the trial court. We review sentencing decisions for errors of law, ORS 138.222(4), and remand for resentencing.

Defendant was indicted for, and pleaded guilty to, theft in the first degree for money that she stole from her employer. The indictment charged defendant as follows:

“THEFT IN THE FIRST DEGREE
“The said defendant, on or between October 03, 2000, and October 07, 2000 in the County of Multnomah, State of Oregon, did unlawfully and knowingly commit theft of lawful currency of the United States of America, of the value of $750 or more, the property of COURTESY VENDING, contrary to the statutes in such cases made and provided and against the peace and dignity of the State of Oregon!.]”

(Boldface in original.) In the plea petition, defendant stated that, “I plead Guilty because, in Multnomah County, Oregon, I did the following: On or between 10/3/00 & 10/7/00,1 knowingly committed theft of $843 from Courtesy Vending.”

During the plea colloquy, the trial court commented on the fact that defendant had agreed to allow the judge to determine the sentence because the parties could not agree on the amount of restitution owed. The trial court and defendant then had the following exchange:

“THE COURT: For the record, how do you plead to the charge of Theft in the First Degree between October 3rd and October 7th of 2000?
“[DEFENDANT]: Guilty.
“THE COURT: What did you do?
“[DEFENDANT]: I took money from my employer.
“THE COURT: All right. And although I understand obviously there is a difference in the amount of money, is it fair to say that you know it was over $750?
“[DEFENDANT]: I believe so.
*355 “THE COURT: Okay. I’ll accept the plea.”

At the restitution hearing, the undisputed evidence was that the victim’s total loss between October 3 and October 7, the dates charged in the indictment, was $843. However, the state also presented evidence of an accounting sheet prepared by the victim that compared estimated earnings with actual earnings between the date defendant began working for the victim, August 24, and the date she was fired, October 5. Through that method, the victim determined its loss was approximately $6,800 during the entire time defendant worked for the victim.

Defendant argued that, based on the indictment, the proper amount of restitution was $843. The state asked for $6,800 in restitution, explaining that,

“at the time that this was charged and in the police reports, we had a felony amount that we were able to prove. And it was after the fact that the insured and the insurance company took the time to sit down and make the complete and total figure. It was something that [the victim] had told the police early on that he had expected it for a lengthier period of time. And I believe that he has sufficiently substantiated by two methods * * * the approximate amount of $6800.”

The trial court ordered defendant to pay $250 restitution to the victim based on the victim’s insurance deductible. Additionally, the trial court ordered defendant to pay $3,000 restitution to the insurance company “[a]fter consideration of the defendant’s ability to pay.” On appeal, defendant asserts that the trial court erred in imposing restitution in excess of $843 because the trial court’s authority was limited by ORS 137.106.

Resolution of this matter requires the interpretation of ORS 137.106. To interpret that statute, we follow the familiar methodology provided in PGE v. Bureau of Labor and Industries, 317 Or 606, 859 P2d 1143 (1993). Our goal is to determine the intent of the legislature. We begin with the text and context of the statute. Id. at 611.

ORS 137.106 authorizes the trial court to order restitution “[w]hen a person is convicted of a crime * * * that has resulted in pecuniary damages * * ORS 137.103(2) defines *356 “pecuniary damages” as special damages “which a person could recover against the defendant in a civil action arising out of the facts or events constituting the defendant’s criminal activities * * (Emphasis added.) In turn, ORS 137.103(1) defines “criminal activities” as “any offense with respect to which the defendant is convicted or any other criminal conduct admitted by the defendant.”

The plain import of ORS 137.106 is that, when a person is convicted of a crime, the trial court may impose restitution for damages recoverable in a civil action arising out of the facts or events constituting that crime or any other criminal conduct admitted by the defendant. See State v. Stephens, 183 Or App 392, 395-97, 52 P3d 1086 (2002) (ORS 137.106 permits restitution as long as the damages were caused in a “but for” sense by the criminal activities for which defendant was convicted or other criminal conduct admitted).

While not framed as such by the parties, the issues in this case are determining the “facts or events” that constitute defendant’s criminal activities and determining whether the restitution awarded by the trial court arose out of those facts or events.

Defendant makes two arguments in support of her assignment of error. First, defendant asserts that she was convicted of taking $750. In addition, she admitted taking $843 in the plea petition. Thus, based on the conviction and defendant’s admission, the trial court had a proper basis for imposing no more than $843 in restitution. We disagree with defendant’s premise that she was convicted of taking $750. Theft in the first degree is defined, in part, as the theft of property valued at “$750 or more.” ORS 164.055 (emphasis added). The indictment in this case charged, in part, that defendant “did unlawfully and knowingly commit theft of lawful currency of the United States of America, of the value of $750

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
56 P.3d 459, 184 Or. App. 352, 2002 Ore. App. LEXIS 1621, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-howett-orctapp-2002.