State v. Meredyk

754 N.W.2d 596, 2008 Minn. App. LEXIS 331, 2008 WL 3288313
Court of Appeals of Minnesota·Decided August 12, 2008·No. A07-1150·Published·Cited by 14 cases

Opinions

OPINION

HALBROOKS, Judge.

Respondent was charged with multiple counts of felony theft for her part in a long-running swindle. She entered into a plea agreement with the state, part of which required her to pay substantial restitution to her victims. The district court accepted respondent’s guilty plea and sentenced her in accordance with the terms of the agreement. The state now challenges the district court’s subsequent modification of respondent’s restitution obligation, contending that the district court had no authority to modify respondent’s sentence with regard to restitution. In the alternative, the state argues that, even if the district court had the authority to modify respondent’s restitution, it abused its authority in doing so here. We conclude that while a district court has authority to modify the terms of a restitution obligation under Minn. R.Crim. P. 27.03, its modification on this record was an abuse of discretion. We therefore reverse.

. FACTS

Beginning in the late 1990s, respondent engaged in an elaborate scheme in which she stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from her grandparents, J.S. and R.S., who were 86 years old at the time appellant was charged, and her great-uncle, H.J., who was 83, by making repeated claims to them that she required substantial sums of money to pay court fees, attorney bills, fines, and other costs related to unspecified legal problems that she had. Respondent’s claims to be in legal trouble were fabricated. But in order to convince her grandparents and great-uncle of the veracity of her claims over a six-year period, respondent forged the signatures of 16 different judges of this state on more than 200 falsified legal documents and enlisted the assistance of another person who impersonated a court clerk. These falsified documents corroborated respondent’s claims about her legal problems and her ongoing need for money to resolve them. Respondent told her grandparents and great-uncle that she would repay them in full once she received a large settlement. This claim too was fictional. After respondent depleted her victims’ savings accounts through this scheme, she swindled them out of their pension and social-security checks.

Eventually other family members became suspicious of respondent’s actions and contacted authorities. An investigation ensued, and in May 2005, respondent was charged with nine counts of felony theft by swindle and one count of felony aggravated forgery for stealing approximately $400,000 from her grandparents and great-uncle. The district court was initially reluctant to accept the guilty plea and negotiated agreement because the district court felt that respondent should serve time in prison. As a result, the district court rejected the plea agreement at the first sentencing hearing but set it [599] for an additional hearing one week later. At the second sentencing hearing, the district court accepted the negotiated plea agreement, staying execution of respondent’s 42-month prison sentence, placing her on probation for 15 years, and requiring her to pay $400,000 in restitution to her victims as a condition of probation. Another condition of respondent’s probation was that she accept no gifts, financial assistance, or other payment from any of her victims. Two years later, respondent had paid less than $200 in restitution to each victim.

In spite of the substantial harm that they have suffered, respondent’s victims have continually shown her great sympathy. They have repeatedly indicated that they view respondent as a valued member of the family and want only the best for her. Even after other family members raised strong concerns about respondent’s conduct, J.S., R.S., and H.J. stated that they did not want to involve the authorities and refused to assist in the criminal investigation once it was under way.

Consistent with these attitudes, on April 4, 2007, respondent’s victims brought a motion to discharge the remaining balance of her restitution obligation, which was then more than $399,000. The district court held a hearing on the motion on April 16, 2007; neither respondent nor her attorney was present. Respondent’s grandparents were present and represented by counsel, but respondent’s great-uncle was not present because he was hospitalized. The state objected to the hearing on the ground that there was no statutory authority allowing victims to challenge restitution.

Respondent’s grandfather testified that he wanted the remainder of respondent’s restitution obligation to be eliminated because he did not need or want the money and did not “want to leave a big debt” for respondent. He stated that the matter had “been bothering us [for] quite a while” and that he just wanted it “taken care of so that we can rest in peace.” Respondent’s grandmother testified that the restitution “doesn’t serve any purpose as far as we’re concerned, and it’s destroying [respondent], not giving her a chance to go on with her life.” She went on to state that “money ... has no value. And that’s why we want to give [respondent] a chance to be able to make a life for herself.” A close friend of respondent’s grandparents testified that the couple was fully competent to make this decision and that “this is what they want with all their heart.”

In a subsequent order, the district court modified respondent’s restitution obligation by adding a new condition concerning how the obligation could be satisfied. The order directed “[t]he Department of Corrections ... to file an order judgment against [respondent] and thereafter to continue to collect restitution until ... [respondent] makes full restitution” or until a “satisfaction of [the] judgment is filed” by all three of respondent’s victims. The district court stated that this new condition “enable[d] the victims to determine whether or not the full amount of [the] restitution has been” met because if they file documentation stating that respondent has satisfied the judgment “this will end [respondent’s] restitution obligations” under the terms of the obligation as modified. In other words, the modified restitution allows respondent to satisfy the restitution obligation without paying the full amount to which she agreed as part of her plea agreement with the state. The remaining terms of respondent’s sentence were not altered. This appeal by the state follows.1

[600] ISSUE

Did the district court abuse its discretion by modifying, over the state’s objection and at the request of the victims, the terms of a restitution obligation that was imposed as part of a negotiated plea agreement?

ANALYSIS

I.

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State v. Meredyk, 754 N.W.2d 596, 2008 Minn. App. LEXIS 331, 2008 WL 3288313 (Mich. Ct. App. 2008).

754 N.W.2d 596 (State v. Meredyk) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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State v. Meredyk
754 N.W.2d 596 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2008)