State v. Johnson

986 P.2d 987, 92 Haw. 36, 1999 Haw. App. LEXIS 104
CourtHawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 30, 1999
Docket21218
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 986 P.2d 987 (State v. Johnson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Johnson, 986 P.2d 987, 92 Haw. 36, 1999 Haw. App. LEXIS 104 (hawapp 1999).

Opinion

Opinion of the Court by

WATANABE, J.

Defendant-Appellant Donna Marie Johnson (Defendant) appeals from the “FINDINGS AND ORDER DENYING MOTION TO REVOKE RESTITUTION; FREESTANDING RESTITUTION ORDER; CIVIL JUDGMENT AGAINST DEFENDANT IN FAVOR OF BANK OF HAWAII,” entered by the Circuit Court of the First Circuit (the circuit court) on December 9,1997 (the December 9,1997 Order).

We vacate the December 9, 1997 Order and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

BACKGROUND

On April 8, 1992, an 0‘ahu grand jury returned an indictment, charging Defendant with one count of Theft in the First Degree 1 and seven counts of Forgery in the Second Degree. 2 The indictment alleged that between November 1990 and March 1991, Defendant exerted unauthorized control over property of Bank of Hawaii exceeding $20,-000.00 in value and forged seven Bank of Hawaii checks totaling $65,108.35.

On August 7, 1992, Defendant pled guilty to all of the charges. On September 17, 1992, a circuit court judge entered a judgment convicting Defendant as charged and sentencing Defendant to a five-year term of probation for each count, “to run concurrent with each other and with Cr. No. 92-0056.” The judgment also ordered Defendant to comply with the following “special conditions of probation” during her term of probation:

4. [Defendant] shall be committed to the Director of the Department of Public Safety for incarceration for a period of ONE (1) YEAR, with credit to be given for time served. Mittimus to issue forthwith.
5. [Defendant] shall make restitution in the amount of $65,108.35 in Count l, 3 at a rate of at least $25.00 per month, commencing January 1, 1993, with future modifications in the the [sic] payment schedule, as may be dictated by changes in employment or other pertinent personal circumstances, to be made in accordance with the Adult Probation Division’s Restitution Computation Formula.

(Footnote added.)

On August 26, 1997, Defendant’s probation officer filed a Motion to Revoke Restitution. In support of the motion, Defendant’s probation officer asserted that: (1) Defendant had been in compliance with the terms and conditions of her probation; (2) as of June 1,1997, Defendant had paid $1,000.00 in restitution, leaving a balance, as of June 4, 1997, of $64,108.35; (3) a budget review ascertained that Defendant could make a minimum monthly restitution payment of $223.74, but *38 Defendant claimed that she was unable to pay that amount; and (4) a review of Defendant’s finances revealed that Defendant could not afford to pay the balance of the $65,-108.35 in restitution owed by September 16, 1997, the end of her five-year probationary period.

The foregoing motion was heard on September 15, 1997, and on December 9, 1997, a written order was entered by the circuit court that provided, in relevant part, as follows:

FINDINGS:
* * ⅜
4. On September 17,1992 in the instant case[, a circuit court judge] sentenced [Defendant] to a 5-year term of probation in each count to run concurrently with each other and to run concurrently with [Defendant’s] 5-year term of probation in the companion case of State of Hawaii [Hawai'i] v. Donna Marie Johnson, Cr. No. 92-0056, Circuit Court of the First Circuit. Certain terms and conditions were imposed upon [Defendant] as terms and conditions of her probation in the instant case.
5. One of the terms and conditions of probation ordered by [the circuit court judge] against [Defendant] in the instant case was as follows:
“5. You shall make restitution in the amount of $65,108.35 in Count 1, at a rate of at least $25.00 per month, commencing January 1, 1993, with future modifications in the payment schedule, as may be dictated by changes in employment or other pertinent personal circumstances, to be made in accordance with the Adult Probation Division’s Restitution Computation Formula.”
6. [Defendant’s probation officer] conducted a budget review with [Defendant] on August 13, 1996 and it was determined that [Defendant’s] appropriate minimum monthly restitution payment in the instant case was $223.74.
7. [Defendant] claimed that she was living paycheck to paycheck and further claimed that she was unable to pay the indicated minimum restitution payment of $223.75 per month in the instant case.
8. [Defendant] has been paying a minimum of $25.00 per month since February 1995, and $50.00 per month since January 1997 in the instant case.
9. [Defendant] has paid restitution in the amount of $1,000.00 in the instant case as of June 1,1997.
10. [Defendant] was also paying restitution ordered in the amount of $975.00 in the companion case of State of Hawaii [Hawai'i] v. Donna Marie Johnson, Cr. No. 92-0056, Circuit Court of the First Circuit, through December 1996, and that the restitution amount in that companion case has been paid in full.
11. A review of [Defendant’s] financial situation ... showed that [Defendant] could not afford to pay the balance of $64,108.35 in the instant case by the end of the probation period.
12. In the instant case[, Defendant’s] period of probation was scheduled to expire on September 16,1997.
13. Pursuant to State v. Griffin, 83 Hawai'i 105[, 924 P.2d 1211] (1996), and State v. Yamamoto, 79 Hawai'i 511[, 904 P.2d 525] (1995), restitution can be a free-standing order remaining in full force and effect beyond the termination of [Defendant’s] term of probation in the instant case.
14. Pursuant to Section 706-644(6) of the Hawaii [Hawai'i] Revised Statutes, as amended, and pursuant to dictum (footnote 4) in Griffin, supra, civil judgment can be imposed against [Defendant] in favor of Bank of Hawaii. [Defendant] has already pled GUILTY as charged to Count 1 which is the offense of THEFT IN THE FIRST DEGREE. There has already been a determination made beyond a reasonable doubt through the sentencing process in the instant criminal case that the appropriate restitution amount was $65,108.35 payable to Bank of Hawaii. It would be a waste of judicial time, judicial effort, and judicial economy to now force Bank of Hawaii to enter into a civil suit against [Defendant] to collect the remaining balance of restitution from [Defendant].
⅜ * *

*39 Accordingly,

ORDER:

IT IS ORDERED that the Motion to Revoke Restitution is denied.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
986 P.2d 987, 92 Haw. 36, 1999 Haw. App. LEXIS 104, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-johnson-hawapp-1999.